Why It Makes Sense to Own a Smart Watch

Mock up of what the iWatch would look like.

It doesn’t matter if you have a smart phone or a “dumb” phone, since cell phones have become so widely used the wrist watch has become more for a fashion status than for telling time. Rumors have it that Google, Apple and other technology companies are trying to change that.

When I first heard of the iWatch (or whatever it ends up being called), I thought it was just an stupid idea from technology companies trying to innovate for the sake of innovating. I laughed at this idea because I didn’t see the real potential behind having a smart watch. I recently had my eyes opened when I read an article claiming that you’d check your iWatch 95 times per day on average.

This article focus’s on one of the slides from Mary Meeker's Latest Masterful Presentation On The State Of The Web. This slide shows that the typical smartphone user check’s their phone 150 times per day. 95 out of 150 check make sense on a “smart watch”.

After looking at these statistics, I am sold. Text messaging, voice calling, checking the time, listening to music, alarm to wake you up, get news, calendar, and alerts all could be used easily on a watch.  You might be asking yourself, “Why would I ever want a watch instead of a phone?” I asked myself the same thing at first but here are 3 reasons:

1.     Convenience
You wouldn’t have to keep pulling your phone in and out of your pocket. How many times have you been sitting down and had to almost stand up in to pull your phone out of your pocket? When you have a “smart watch” you only have to pull up your sleeve (if you have one).

2.     No more dropping

Who hasn’t dropped their phone at least a dozen times? Even if you didn’t end up breaking it, you still had time slowed down as you watched your digital lifeline crash to the floor. Then the moment of truth came as you picked it back up in hopes that you didn’t break anything. The “smart watch” would be attached securely to your wrist.

3.     Don’t miss updates

I love going to movies, where I have to silence my phone. After the movie I sometimes forget to take it off ‘silent mode’ and end up missing an important text or call. Even if your “smart watch” is on ‘silent mode’ you are more likely to glance at your watch on your wrist than the phone tucked away in your pocket.

I’ll be excited to see if this innovation really takes off. Let me know what you think. Would you buy one? Why or why not?