What it is: The Apple Watch is Apple’s latest product, but many people claim they’re waiting for version 2 that will have more capabilities.
Investor’s Business Daily recently polled people who claimed they wanted an Apple Watch but wanted to wait until version 2. Generally most people wait until technology matures enough to work reliably and offer enough features to justify the purchase. Most early adopters bought the first iPhone and only after numerous improvements did more and more people decide that an iiPhone was right for them.
However, waiting for the next version has its price as well. While you’re waiting for the next version, you’re not enjoying the benefits of the current version. You can wait forever for the next version of anything so eventually you’ll need to decide if waiting can be justified or whether buying the current version will be worth the benefits it offers.
In the Apple Watch’s case, many people still aren’t sure what they need a wearable computer for. One clear reason to get version 1 of any product is that it will be a future collectible. Think of the original iPad. Despite its lower features, it’s still more valuable than version 2 of the iPad, even though the second version of the iPad is still supported and more capable. That’s because version 1 was the first so over time, it will be a far more valuable collectible than later versions.
Beyond the collectible value of a version 1 product, buying and using a version 1 product also gives you a chance to exploit the early features of that version 1 product. In the Apple Watch’s case, you can see what the Apple watch is good at and where it needs improvement. Now you’ll be better able to analyze future versions of the Apple Watch to determine which features you really need.
Is it worth spending a few hundred dollars to learn about the Apple Watch? For developers, yes. For consumers, maybe not, unless you want to develop some kind of business around the Apple Watch such as using the Apple Watch in a corporation. However one of the most important purposes of the Apple Watch is real-time health monitoring, and health is something that everyone can be concerned about.
If you’re not in the optimum health, or if you are and want to measure your daily activities, that’s the clearest example of the Apple Watch’s advantage. Far too many people are obese or simply not getting enough exercise. Just moving around during the day on a regular basis can extend several years to your life while warding off diseases and other problems. For those who are healthy, they may not need an Apple Watch. For those who don’t exercise regularly, you may not think you need to monitor your health, but you probably do.
Real-time health monitoring for sick people is crucial. Real-time health monitoring for currently healthy people may not seem crucial, but it is, especially if you aren’t working out regularly. If you’re not staying physically active, chances are good you’re not getting enough exercise, but you won’t know for sure unless you have a wearable computer like the Apple Watch to keep track of your activity.
The Apple Watch may not seem like a must-have product, but it really is for anyone concerned about their health. If you’re not sick, it’s easy to take your health for granted, but an inactive lifestyle is guaranteed to cause health problems for you in the future.
Version 1 of the Apple Watch is for everyone whether they can see it or not because everyone cares about their health. The problem is that most people don’t care about their health until they start to lose it, and by then it could be too late.
If you think the Apple Watch isn’t useful, chances are good you’re not thinking long-term. Is your health worth a few hundred dollars? That may be hard to justify for people struggling to pay their bills, but for anyone with enough disposable income to eat out regularly, take vacations every year, or spend money on cigarettes or coffee every morning, the problem isn’t the lack of money but the lack of imagination, and the lack of imagination will keep you from taking advantage of any technology. After all, just think of all those people still waiting for smartphones to be useful enough to justify getting one.