In a busy news week, you probably didn’t miss the announcement by Apple that I can have Siri on my wrist beginning in 2015. Sounds pretty cool.

The big news had me reminiscing about a watch I received form Apple in the early 1990’s to celebrate a new version of the MacOS. I used to wear that watch all the time because it was cool, unique and kept pretty good time. [See photo]

I dug it out of drawer full of old watches. And I began to think about how much the watch has changed, and really how much it has stayed the same. Like my old Apple watch, the new Apple watch is fashionable and will keep great time.

But to me, the biggest difference is that I can have my personal assistant right there all the time. Also, I’ll be able to navigate, and manage my calendar and messages. I love this.

But I’ve also been skeptical. Mostly because I haven’t worn a watch since I got my iPhone a few years ago. That’s what I use to keep time, set my wake up alarms and track myself as I run.

I wanted to see if this is normal behavior, and it just happens the Washington Post ran an article in which they say:

The death of the wristwatch has been predicted before, when cellphones first became ubiquitous, but the industry has proven surprisingly hard to quash. Watches are selling better in the United States than they have in years, having climbed back from the recession with several years of rapid growth, research firm Euromonitor International said. And mechanical watches, which are often less accurate but more stylish than their quartz counterparts, accounted for a growing chunk of the $8.2 billion in watches sold in the United States last year.

The article also comments that watch sales were around $5 billion in 2000. So growth to $8.2 billion in 2013 is really good in the era of the smartphone.

Maybe I’m thinking of this wrong; the new Apple Watch is really not a watch, any more that my iPhone is a phone. Both are so much more. But that what I call them…phones and watches.

On my phone, an iPhone, I love the Siri feature and use it regularly to manage appointments, make calls, and find out information I’m curious about.

And I expect the new Apple watch to have so much more than the ability to tell the time. As Tim Cook and others explained during the launch event, health monitoring, payment processing and other really cool applications will be available on (or through) the Apple Watch.

So here’s what I’ll be cautiously skeptical about. The open issues for the next year or so:

• Is the watch a fashion accessory or a cool intelligent assistant? And is it worth the $350 I’ll be laying out, in addition to the purchase price of an iPhone and a service agreement? You are starting to talk about a fair amount of money in a tenuous economy.
• Will health and payment apps really deliver on their promise? I think these apps can be really important ones to drive the value of the watch. And it will be interesting to see how consumers use the watch — in particular, how analysis, tracking and advice is provided by my on-board intelligent advisor.
• How will Siri-oriented apps on the watch be developed for use by firms looking to drive tighter and deeper engagement with their companies? How will the mobile apps we use today migrate to the watch? And how will they drive a better customer experience with companies such as financial services, retail, and insurance companies?

Yes, I’ll buy the new Apple Watch. I just wonder how much I’ll use it, and what I’ll do with it.

Categories: Intelligent Assistants, Mobile + Location, Articles

Tags: intelligent Assistants, Apple Watch, iPhone, Siri