Wearable Tech - An Unconvincing Trend
Byl Cameron
Technology | Leadership | 25K+ LinkedIn | Husband and Father | CS Lewis Institute | Visited 50 countries & territories | Hebrews 10:14 | ???????
Mobile continues to utterly change the way so many of us manage our personal and professional lives. Wearable technology is arising as an important dimension of this trend. As more and more of us consider it normal to be accessible all of the time via a device, it will be important to watch wearables. Additionally, with the rise of the Internet of Things, wearables are part of the cross-device mass communication that is evolving in that phenomenon.
However, a few questions that are not yet settled in regards to the role wearables will fulfill in the future are:
- Will wearables be used to pay for things?
- Will they play into the rise of geofencing?
- Are they primarily for lifestyle management?
- Will people make phone calls from their wrist?
- And, how will they need to look?
The question of how, or even if, wearables will play into the rapid rise of FinTech also remains very much open. The fact of the matter is that people don’t do much banking on wearables today. And consumers’ appetite for doing so remains TBD. While the trend toward banking via smartphone and phablet is utterly rewriting how financial institutions must think and invest, wearables are currently very – meh.
Three points to ponder on wearables:
I) Wearables are sorta ugly
The fact is that wearable tech has historically been made by and for nerds (as a self-professed nerd, I can say this). The result is that wearable tech has not been aesthetically pleasing, especially to those consumers who are concerned with style.
Consider the case of Google Glass. In every sense, it is rightly remembered as a revolution in where your computing power lived and was displayed….. but it also made you look like a bit of a buffoon. Consider that the term “Glasshole” arose from those who wore Google Glass in public, a derisive term that showed how some people look at those who wore Glass.
Considering the initial buzz around Google Glass and then consider where it is now – goofy and ugly are not promising design elements.
With all of that said, the Apple Watch may be well-positioned to change that. It was clearly designed with attractiveness in mind.
II) Wearables are mostly about lifestyle management today
Most wearables are often small and wrist-worn and therefore very conducive to use during exercise. They also are where the human heart pulse can be easily tracked. We are seeing a revolution in wearables being used to count footsteps, time your run, track your caloric intake and monitor your heart rate. Consequently, wearables have been experiencing an evolutionary drift toward lifestyle management – not FinTech.
With all of that said, the Apple Watch appears to be well-positioned to change that. It was clearly designed with both lifestyle management and banking in mind – users will be able to use Apple Pay on their Apple Watch.
III) “I can keep my phone in my pocket...” may not be a strong value proposition
Some wearables, notably the Apple Watch, need to be paired to a smartphone to work. In the first version, the Apple Watch won’t even be able to work independently via a wifi connection. Because wearables like Apple Watch require the wearer to be within range of a larger smartphone device, the convenience factor, a key consideration for the value prop around wearables, is dubious.
In summary, wearables have multiple “wait-and-see” dimensions, especially in their use within FinTech. The wearable device that is best-positioned to change things is the Apple Watch. Despite Apple Pay’s anemic adoption rate, Apple Pay is a really big deal. And that means that the Apple Watch could be a big deal, as well.
As with all things digital, time is the best arbiter of where tech and consumers will find a common ground. So, let’s wait and watch wearables (say that five times fast!).
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10 年In the early stages, I expect to see FinTech applications to be mostly around notifications, reminders, etc. - e.g., bill payments, account balances, transactions. Over time, I think being able to use the watch to authenticate at an ATM vs. pulling out my bank card or being able to quickly categorize and geolocate a purchase - e.g., business expense vs. personal - instead of having to do that off your phone/tablet/PC. Like you said, time will tell
Lead Network Engineer
10 年I still wear a watch so I can check the time at a glance on my wrist. Whether automatic or a battery that lasts for years, I don't have to think about recharging. Power consumption for advanced functions changes that. If I have to charge something every few days to perform these functions, I already charge my phone or tablet so I might as well get out my phone or tablet or sit at a computer to do something more sophisticated and power consuming than tell time or, maybe, count my pulse or breathing rate with a fitness-specific device. Better still, a larger device will have a larger screen to make it easier to perceive what I need to see for more complex activities, like banking, until someone cleverly edits the experience and delivers what we need with far less screen real estate.