Is the Apple Watch just a gimmick?

So I am now the proud owner of an Apple Watch. Yes I succumbed to the lure of this new fancy piece of kit and I chose my face size and strap accessory wisely. In short, I’m really pleased with it. Yet I keep getting asked “is the Watch just a gimmick?”

I can’t help but feel that whilst the Watch does a lot of impressive things it has only really scratched the surface of what it will be capable of in the near future. Apple have taken a lot of care to create not only the hardware but important elements of the software too but I think they are relying on developers to convert more ‘Watch-friendly’ apps to make the Watch an essential.

So a few things that the Watch does (really well!) … I get notifications to my wrist via a gentle vibration. I can dismiss them or even reply. For example, text messages pop up on my Watch, I can reply and select a number of pre-loaded responses or voice record my own. The recording can then be sent as an audio file or a text file. The speech recognition is of a very high quality.

I can use my Watch as a remote for my camera. Placing my camera a few feet away to capture a group shot is easy…no more selfie-sticks!

I can read my emails, get a reminder of my next calendar appointment, listen to music, find my favourite contacts fast, use maps to direct me to a destination…and depending on what apps you’ve got access some simple information and take action.

However by far the best feature is making and receiving calls. I never miss a chance to impersonate “The Hoff” and re-enact many a scene from Knight Rider. The speaker isn’t as loud as the iPhone but it is clear enough even where there is background noise and it appears that the person on the other end of the phone as no idea I’m talking via the Watch.

Having demonstrated the Watch to friends and business associates, everyone has been amazed by some of these features…seeing them in action is totally different to just reading about it. Although someone rightly pointed out that dexterity and screen size would be a real issue for them so the Watch clearly has its limitations.

For now, the Watch does a few key and frequent actions that otherwise I’d do on my iPhone. That alone saves me time in not having to get my phone out, unlock it, find the app, etc…but third party app developers need to understand how they use this technology to their advantage. There is more to come from this Watch I assure you.