The Apple Watch: Time Running Out?

The advertisements for the Apple Watch (note the capital “W”) are rolling thick and fast into my mailboxes. On sight, I am impressed. The Watch is as slick a piece of engineering that micro technology has ever delivered. No feature has been left to chance. The customer has a choice of Watch weights and strap colours, and numerous faces are on offer, Mickey Mouse, et al. You go through a “fitting experience” before buying one, and then order it online. Apple describes it as “an accurate timepiece, an immediate communication device and a groundbreaking health and fitness companion.” Companion, eh – are we all that lonely?

But, I digress. Not only is the Watch all of the above, it is attracting reviews too raving and numerous to reproduce here. With prices beginning just under £300 and rising to just over £1,000 for a “basic” Watch, it hardly breaks the bank, either. The cheaper models are made of aluminium, while the more expensive models are of stainless steel. Whatever the material, the details are just too cool; every button and panel, buckle and strap honed for style and simplicity. The Edition Watches are the most highly prized – and priced – with both rose gold and yellow gold models on sale for £8,000 rising to £13,500 – so, you see, something for everyone! Why am I not dashing out to purchase one of these wonderful talismans, as desirable and beautiful as the Philosopher’s stone? Why, when not even the price is a challenge, am I not panting with longing for this magical device that will knock untidy lives into order, keep us connected and fit, and all but endow the wearer with superpowers? Because, gentle reader, in a year or two, the Apple Watch will be obsolete. Another beautiful gadget will displace it, promising to knock untidy lives into order, keep us connected and fit, and all but endow the wearer with superpowers, etc. The Apple Watch will be consigned to the Great Repository of Objects, so longed for once but hence abandoned and forgotten. Besides, I don’t really need one. Fitness I do at the swimming pool, communication I’m doing right now and as for a timepiece; well, I hear Argos has got nice tickers on sale for £10 or so. Watch this space.