It’s time to go post-Elizabethan on our Smartwatch assumptions

Believe it or not, just to find out the time while on the move, one used to have to conjure a device from one’s pocket, unlock it and then return it therewhence. Or ask a policeman, of course — but either way, quite the labour for such a simple update.

Recent developments have revealed a new alternative — a way to quickly skip out most of these steps with a quick glance at your wrist. It’s said that this device has:

“in the closing thearof a clocke, and in the forepart of the same a faire lozengie djamond without a foyle, hanging thearat a rounde juell fully garnished with dyamondes and a perle pendaunt.”

Oh, you thought I was talking about something else?

While many are sceptical about the mainstream appetite for smartwatches, I think it’s as much a natural evolution as the move from the pocketwatch to the wristwatch.

And here’s why:

Your smartphone is a crummy place to do 80% of the things you are currently relying on it for.

Let me explain.

Take note

The ability for apps and services to immediately get your attention has made us all more connected and changed modern life. And yes, sometimes, that is pure living hell.

But apps are like icebergs. Sure, you need a proper device when you’re trying to get things done — but 99% of the time, notifications represent the app just bobbing above the surface. Most of these require little or no action. Few of them justify fishing your phone from a pocket.

It’s this sporadic, unpredictable bobbing that lures us back time after time, constantly checking for the next little pulse of endorphins. And often left unrewarded when there’s no update waiting.

If your smartphone is a full dashboard, smartwatches are more like a Heads Up Display (HUD). The updates you choose to allow are nearly a part of you. You can choose to acknowledge the incoming or continue with your business.

This is one reason the subtlety of the “Taptic Feedback” in Apple Watch is an important distinction that should help it integrate effectively with your everyday life.

Love your smartphone for its brain, not its looks

Modern mobiles have become powerful polymaths of the processing world, stuffed with sensors and wrapped in luxury casing. But their batteries have to indulge your constant wakeup calls as notification after notification wakes increasingly large screens.

In my experience with a 4G iPad, one of the advantages I noticed was spending less time with my phone, letting its battery lasting longer each day. In the same way, quick checks on a small smartwatch screen reduce the most resource-heavy requirement of a modern phone — turning on that big torch dozens of times a day without need.

This specialisation allows your phone to become the brains of the operation instead of an abused workhorse. It can do the thinking while your smartwatch delivers moments of action just when it matters. Then when you go to pick it up, it’s ready and waiting for the jobs it does best.

Phone culture is killing us

Walking along the street taking directions. Checking items off a list in Evernote. Controlling Chromecast, Netflix, Spotify. Setting alarms and timers. Checking your pedometer status. Finding bus/train times.

Why do these daily activities leave you one handed, face down on a sheet of glass? By existing on your wrist, it’s like wrenching your notification centre and app widgets into their own device that requires no extra hand to juggle. How many more people would use these features if constantly within reach?

The smartwatch’s design limitations introduce a necessary focus. You’re either trying to get a quick, very simple task done or you’re going to need a bigger boat. With smartphones, all these use cases blur together, as multitasking and notifications lure you from one distraction to another, wasting time on a device that can (increasingly) achieve almost anything.

This blurry state isn’t good for us. The focus encouraged by a smartwatch lets you concentrate on what matters rather than sprawling between tasks as they snap their fingers.

Getting your phone out to go deeper than any one action becomes a choice instead of the only way to address even the smallest demand. Moving to a tablet or a bigger smartphone takes on new meaning when it’s something you’re using for more in-depth tasks. Going to your laptop or computer again takes on a specialised, separate function.

Turning to your phone for every purpose has been an interesting phase. But I think it’s hard to argue that it’s healthy and productive. Smart watches complete a picture of increasing specialisation that makes us think more about what we are really doing at any one moment and why. Hopefully it will encourage us toward healthier habits as a result.

Closing time

Smartphones have created a swarm of new common habits while simultaneously becoming overkill to perform them. Apps can surface their most important actions or information on smartwatches in a far more convenient way. And because there are often so many, the time saved adds up fast.

As with laptops, as with smartphones and tablets too, the technology will get stronger, the battery will get longer and the price will come down. These first models don’t matter nearly as much as what comes next and what developers do with the opportunity ahead.

If you have kept this trend at arm’s length, it’s time to take another look and see what’s ticking. You might be pleasantly surprised.