4 Points of Etiquette for a Smartwatch
The Apple Watch is coming. And for better or worse, watches in general are about to look very different after Friday, April 24, the launch date for Apple’s latest wearable tech. Right now the Android fanatics are crying foul, as companies like Samsung have been producing smart watches like the Samsung Gear for years, and they’re right. But let’s face it, the race doesn’t truly start until Apple steps up to the start line.
New technology always comes packaged with its social faux pas — the first smartphone brought annoying selfies, the first tablet brought gaudy film recording (we’ve all seen that guy recording a concert with his iPad), and the Apple Watch will surely spawn a world of annoying habits. Maybe everyone will be shouting voice commands at their arms. Maybe we’ll actually try watching video on a 42mm screen. Maybe someone will actually go out and buy the $17,000 gold Apple Watch Edition. There’s no way to know for sure, but there are a few ways to buy the very first-generation Apple Watch without becoming that guy.
- No One Really Cares
If you plan on buying the Apple Watch on day one, you’ll have friends and family wanting to check it out… at first. In the end, the watch is just like any new toy you own — interesting the first time and mundane the second. Showing off an Apple Watch is like subtly mentioning you do CrossFit at a dinner party. The golden rule is simple: if someone asks what’s on your wrist, show them. Otherwise, it’s best to keep your favorite toy to yourself.
- Features for the Sake of Features
Are you an athlete? Do you use data to improve your performance, diet and recovery? Great! Apple Watch’s heart monitoring technology is actually very useful to track both resting and active heart rates all day. Do you work 9-5 at a desk and go home to play “World of Warcraft”? Your heart rate is frightening and you don’t want to know what it is anyways. Taking the “lifehacker” mentality to life doesn’t make it easier, it just makes it cluttered and complicated. Just because your watch can do something doesn’t mean that it should do everything. That would be like Skyping everyone on your friends list without anything to say, just because your computer has a camera. Know what you need, and more importantly, know what you don’t.
- Don’t Be a Hater
Listen, some people just won’t buy into the smartwatch movement. There will likely be a gap somewhere between Millennials and Gen X that feel technology has finally gotten too complicated for them and they are just fine with their iPhone, thank you very much. Leave these people alone. Shaming the owners of normal mechanical watches is like giving someone grief for owning a flip phone. It’s just unnecessary.
- But Also, Smartwatches are Cool
This advice may be cynical but you don’t have to be. The Apple Watch and all other smartwatches are an amazing feat of technology and have some amazingly practical uses. For example, if you’re a frequent business traveler, your smartwatch could serve as your boarding pass on airlines and even unlock doors at certain hotel chains. That’s just plain cool. Follow the etiquette of owning a smartwatch, yes, but don’t forget to have fun with the thing you paid hundreds of dollars for.
