Apple's New Device: This Time, It's Personal

Recently, Apple announced the arrival of the Apple Watch, their latest product in the wearable tech market. This is big news because, well, it's Apple, but also because it had been several years since Apple gave us anything beyond their typical iPhone and iPad upgrades. Questions from the media about whether it can still create new products post-Steve Jobs have been answered, at least for now. 
 
On the surface, the Apple Watch seems to meet and even go beyond our daily needs. The new technology boasts features such as perfect time-tracking, messaging/texting/calling, merchant services, and a fitness tracker to help measure our activity level (including our heartbeat). What many of us are curious to see, however, is whether the watch can propel us to something greater: that next level of personal intimacy with our technology. Will this product drive us to a closer state of self-actualization?
 
This is what Apple has been pitching us over the past decade. The iPod is not merely a portable music player, but a digital collection of your musical tastes and passions. The iPhone is more than a device to make calls, but also a personal secretary to capture all the scattered parts of your life and put it together in one place. The iPad is not just a tablet, but a tabula rasa to explore the depths of our imagination. Apple has cleverly sold us on the idea that technology should not be a cold, sterile machine, but an extension of who you are as a human being.
 
The Apple Watch follows the same formula. Apple promises this watch won't just be telling time. No, it will be much more; it will show us what we could do with our time. Which of our best friends should we be connecting with? How much exercise is recommended for today? These questions are addressed by technological features meant to maximize convenience and personal intimacy. More than ever before, Apple promises to bridge us closer to our true self so that we will become more productive and self-aware.
 
Indeed, the lines between humanity and technology are quickly being erased. The idea of wearing a smartwatch is rife with symbolism: you are now literally shackled to technology. For both the marketer and consumer alike, the call is to prepare ourselves for an era in which technology and humanity are inseparable, a world in which our technology will know us better than we know ourselves. 
 
Of course, the jury is still out on how the public will receive the watch when it releases in early 2015. As it stands, the wearables sector is still fledgling and early in adoption. The Apple Watch isn't the first to break into the market. In fact, the wearable tech market has seen several products—most notably Google Glass, Nike+ FuelBand, Pebble Watch—make insignificant ripples in the water. Will Apple be the one to make a splash? Only time will tell.

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Liferay: Nerd On The Street is a blog devoted to sharing new ideas about business and technology. To continue the discussion, post your thoughtful insights below.

Blogues
Let's see how Apple fare's on their first new product post Jobs.

It will be interesting to see if they are still innovative or are simply riding the tail of the name they have been able to build the past 10 years.
Ken, I agree. On a similar corollary, it might be interesting to examine the "I'll-buy-anything-from-Apple" cult following that Apple has created over the years. That might be their greatest production yet.
It would be interesting to see how this differ from andriod based watch sold by Samsung !
I think the watch to compare it to would be the moto 360, the Android watch that Motorola just came out with. Android is hard at work attempting to create a hands free experience. So, while Apple is creating a great UX and easy navigation through the dials and buttons, I think Android is focused on not having the necessity to push anything to interface with your mobile devices.

Google Now, or "OK Google" is far from perfect, but is making pretty quick progress in my opinion.