Apple Watch a Convenience or a Misunderstood Tool?

People often say that hindsight is 20/20. Why didn't we think of that, they say. When the original iPhone came out, Blackberry executive's clearly misunderstood the market and according to Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff's "Losing The Signal," Blackberry couldn't see the allure of the iPhone.

What everyone else saw was that is was cool. But, it was only available on AT&T.

As soon as the iPhone came out, it was a coveted piece of tech. It was the mobile phone that everyone wanted to own, but just a small minority of people were willing to "jump ship" from their existing carrier to AT&T. Until Apple unveiled the APP Store.

The App Store is what changed everything. As Steve Jobs said, it was "revolutionary." By opening up a closed device to developers and third-party apps, the iPhone went from a phone with browsing capability to a mini-computer. Interestingly enough, people thought too small in the beginning; users nor developers could conceive of the things that could be done; that's the great part about ingenuity - there's always a new idea. Soon, the developers rose to the challenge and as of this month, there are approximately 1.4 million apps residing on Apple's App Store and 1.5 million apps available to Android users.

And now we get to the Apple Watch. It's funny how people have dismissed it so quickly. Many of the same people also dismissed the iPad because they couldn't see a market for a tablet device. Now, it's hard to understand civilization without them, they're so prevalent in homes, schools and business - and that was an entirely new class of tech! The Apple Watch refreshes age-old tech - a device that many people already wear on their wrists. I've worn a watch my entire life. As a kid, I thought Swatch made cool watches; I probably had 30 or so. And as I matured, so did my taste in watches. Some are shiny and elegant, some are made of plastic and rubber. I've had analog and digital. But you know what? Short of the Pac-Man watch I had in the third grade that: 1.) Told Time, 2.) Played Pack-Man, and 3.) Sang "I Wish I Were In Dixie," my other watches only told me the time and the date.

I don't know about you, but I like to multitask. I have hundreds of things buzzing around in my head all the time. If I can consolidate anything and it gives me an opportunity to be more productive, I'm going to consider it. I look forward to receiving my Apple Watch with the 20 or so built-in apps. They'll be useful and I'm sure I will use most of them, but I'm really looking forward to how the developer community broadens the appeal of the Apple Watch, expanding it from a watch + to a true lifestyle companion. Virtual Halo™ is one app, that I'm sure will do just that.

Image Credit: FiftyThree/Danurigom

It started with a trip to Colombia

In mid-February, I needed to make a trip to Colombia for my job in heavy duty mining equipment sales. While I've been traveling all over the world for the past fifteen years, this would be my first trip to South America. Prior to the scheduling the trip, I wasn't nervous at all; it was just another trip to a new location that I hadn't been to - I was psyched! But, as I started going through the checklist of prerequisites, trepidation started building.

It wasn't until I visited the county health department to get my vaccinations that I began to worry. To say that they put the "fear of God" in me would be an understatement. And then it happened, I saw a news story about a foreign visitor to Colombia that had been kidnapped. What's worse was his family wasn't aware of it for at least three days - they thought that he just hadn't checked in. By that time, it was going to be very difficult to track this guy down.

While on the LAN flight to Bogota, I sat in my economy class seat wondering what could be done to improve personal safety while traveling. Heck, you can get into trouble just as easily in Chicago for that matter! That's when I thought of how great it would be if there was a button to push that would let my wife and my work know that I was in trouble.

I'm an early adopter; I love tech. But, I really don't need another device to carry with me when I travel. That's when I thought of the Apple Watch that Apple had announced last September. This could accomplish a couple of things:

1. I already wear a watch and so do a lot of other people, especially travelers.
2. It's easy to get to in a tight situation.
3. Apple developed an amazing app ecosystem for the iPhone; surely they'll be allowing this for their watch as well.

Now, to put the plan on paper.

Patent Pending

It's been a crazy busy week. The great news, is the patent has been applied for, which means that I can finally talk about the really cool tech that will become Virtual Halo.