Dick Tracy: Smart Watch Pioneer

Seven months ago, I wrote a post about the Apple Watch and how I was yet to be convinced of the need. Concerned that in the wake of the clamour for wearable tech, I’d suddenly become a Luddite, I decided to immerse myself rather than take the easy, skeptical route.

So in October 2014, I became one of the first owners of a LG G Watch R, which at the time was certainly the smart watch of choice.

I duly installed Android Wear on my HTC One and ensured I did all I could to exercise every feature of my new watch. On several occasions I even publicly addressed my wrist to ask for directions, drawing inevitable what-a-muppett looks from those around me.

But try as I might, I just couldn’t realise the value. Android already bombards users with notifications so if anything, having them duplicated on my wrist was actually an irritation. When I run, I’m not interested in analyzing the minutiae of pace and heartbeat. The fact I’m still alive after a 10k is sufficient for me. And if someone calls me, my phone tells me. If I’m too far away from my phone, the watch won’t ‘see’ it anyway. Changing watch faces is fun but that hardly constitutes the case for as opposed to the case against.

I tried, I really did. But its probably testament to the level of interest in wearable tech that a month later, someone bought the watch on eBay for more than I paid for it.

Days away from the launch of the Apple Watch, have I changed my mind? Well, yes and no. Yes, in that I’ve changed from an Android phone to an iPhone (those notifications and the lack of decent OS-level management of them eventually drove me to distraction) and no, in that I’ve still yet to be convinced about the Apple Watch.

Maybe sending someone my heartbeat will change my mind. Or maybe just running 10k and remaining alive will be enough.