We have gradually accepted more and more intrusive forms of technology. Is the smart watch the next logical step?
There’s nothing the internet likes more than rumours about Apple
products – apart, possibly, from cute cats. In the last few days, it is
the former that has preoccupied countless netizens.
Specifically, it was rumours about the possible appearance of an iWatch from the Cupertino tech giant. The frenzy of speculation was sparked by a piece
written by interface expert and ex-Apple employee Bruce Tognazzini, who
argued that a watch would “fill a gaping hole in the Apple ecosystem”
and herald a new phase in how we interact with technology.
The
article offered no proof that Apple was working on a watch – or that the
device that was rapidly christened an iWatch was even a timekeeper
(could iWatch be the name of the long awaited TV from Apple?). But the
story – true or not – offers a fascinating insight into the rapidly
emerging field of wearable computing.
For Tognazzini – the
designer behind the Apple Mac’s original user interface – what’s at
stake is computing that is able to treat you, for the first time, as a
human being. Today, smartphones know roughly where we’re standing, the
logins for a selection of our online profiles, and hold a selection of
apps and files. Tomorrow, wearable computing might know everything from
your altitude and posture to your pulse, blood type, height, weight, and
daily routines, right down to the way you take coffee from different
stores.
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