What it is: The Apple Watch is a wearable computer for multiple uses, but most people don’t think they need one.
When personal computers first arrived, many people thought they didn’t need one. When cellular phones first arrived, most people didn’t think they needed one. When tablets first appeared, many people thought they didn’t need one. So it’s not surprising that when wearable computers appeared in the form of the Apple Watch, many people boast that they don’t need an Apple Watch.
In some cases, that may be true, but in other cases, it may be because they simply don’t realize the benefits the Apple Watch offers. The most obvious benefit is real-time health monitoring. Even if you’re healthy, real-time health monitoring can be important because it helps you stay active and healthy. The more active you are, the less likely you’ll suffer from health-related problems in the future. So if you’re interested in staying alive, you could benefit from an Apple Watch.
Beyond real-time health monitoring, the Apple Watch’s secondary function is to be with you at all times. Right now, the Apple Watch needs to pair with an iPhone to make calls, but if you don’t want to keep pulling your iPhone out to make a call (and risk dropping it), you can make a call directly from your Apple Watch instead.
In fact, if you look at the 1:26 minute mark on a video showing citizen volunteers helping rescue people around Houston during the recent Hurricane Harvey flood, you can see a rescuer making a quick call using an Apple Watch. When you’re wading through flood waters, you probably don’t want to risk pulling out and dropping your iPhone in the water. It’s much easier just to make a quick call on the Apple Watch that can’t easily fall in the water.
In the future, expect the Apple Watch to offer cellular connectivity so it can function on its own without an accompanying iPhone. Such capability will obvious cost you with a phone carrier, but having a mobile phone strapped to your wrist insures you can call for help without carrying and pulling out a smartphone. Police and other emergency responders could find such a wearable mobile phone useful when they don’t have the time to pull out a regular smartphone.
For people who claim they don’t have a need for the Apple Watch, they may be right, or they may be simply ignorant of the possibilities that the Apple Watch offers, just like people were ignorant about the advantages of PCs, mobile phones, and tablets at one time. Don’t dismiss the Apple Watch just because you can’t imagine a use for it. With a little creativity, you could find a valid use for the Apple Watch that will make a believer out of even the most cynical skeptic.
