What new growth from old ideas spring?

What do I want to achieve on my Mac which is almost possible, but remains just short of reality. It could be "oh so good if only..."

Thursday, August 28, 2014

iWear it

A watch? Apple will create a watch? I don't think so. Oh, a smart watch. No, not Apple.

I don't really see Apple doing anything as prosaic as a watch. I like watches and I like watches with extra functions such as barometers and altimeters and chronometers and any other sorts of meters, but I am of a certain age and I don't mind having a wrist wearable reference device. But mostly, people have a different reference device these days which has many more functions than a watch.

But wearable sensors, multiple wearable sensors for input and measurement with "Handed off" processing and data presentation - now that is something Apple would do very well. Now that is a whole new market. Even fashionista's would find that interesting what with clothing jewellery and even watches sitting under the iWear title, not to mention health conscious sports jocks and bio-monitoring physicians or home connection engineers.

Many low cost small sensors which can slip into various form factors and deliver specific information to your iPhone or Mac like personalised iBeacons. You simply (hah, simple for some companies, like Apple) need to be able to read or hear the data and add to it with voice, keyboard or camera input. Oh, wait you have all those things already in your iPhone.

It may look like a watch, or hairband (not much good for me I'm afraid) or spectacle frame (I really do need this), but it will be a sensor by any other name, wrapped in an easily comprehended story with unimaginable social consequences.