WHAT ELSE IS NEXT?

Apple is one of the technology giants at the core of growing speculation about smartwatches. Along with Samsung – maker of Galaxy Gear that was unveiled this week – Google and Microsoft, we now have another reason to be on the cutting edge of redundancy!

Looks like the same old apps to me!

If that is not enough, it gives children another toy to stare into and totally ignore their parents. It seems the world is starting to get darker by the minute! Seemingly as we lose the art of handwriting in script, soon we may lose the art of conversation, and the only words necessary will be: ‘download and apps’ which will round out our vocabulary.

But my mother saw it coming years ago, as she berated poor old dad for spending too much time watching TV and not talking to her. That was the first electronic device: the TV, aside from the radio that has totally disappeared unless you put it in a context of an app, and Apple is now out with a device for $100 that will accommodate your computer, I-pad or smartphone onto a TV set..

Now it is essential to pose this question before you run out and buy a smartwatch: do you really need one? It will only replicate what the smartphone does, which replicates what an I-pad does that is even better than what a laptop does, that which is better than your desktop computer!

Once upon a time, I lived in a world that hadn’t yet been introduced to the computer except in some vague concept! Yes, it is true and I survived! People had these black things that sat on a desk and plugged into a wall that rang and you answered it by picking up a receiver. Your source of amusement was one of  seven channels that came in sometimes questionably with a roof top antennae or what they called ‘rabbit ears’, a leap in TV technology so you didn’t have to climb on your roof to watch Mr. Weatherbee, for the latest local weather.

An absolute obsolete!

In those backward days of yesteryear, it became a thing to do to go to a library to research something, and an opportunity to go out. It could even be a social occasion, where I met my friends or young ladies from other hoods that expanded my social sphere.

But if we all go out and get a smartwatch, what do we do with all our old watches? And you guys who wear a Rollex, what do you do for immediate status recognition? Do you have to buy a solid gold wristband? (I’m worried about that!)

Got the time already!

As for me, I am just starting to get accustomed to TLW (The Little Woman) getting so electronically sophisticated that she has totally rejected her laptop for an I-pad, a bright new white shiny one, to distinguish hers from my black one, or as she says: the good guys from the bad guys.

Brilliant!

I’ve decided that rather than run out and buy a smartwatch, I will be smart and wear my smartphone on my wrist and look; cool, smart and cutting edge, without the added cost. Hmmm, I’ll need a big rubberband.