Wearable Computing: Boom or Bust?

in mobile on 2014-05-07 20:56 (#3K4)

Is wearable tech the next big thing, or has it already come and gone? Either way, it's the hot topic of 2014.

Blame Google, whose Google Glass eyewear got everyone excited about something newer and trendier than an expensive smart phone (and made at least some people into instant glassholes ), or blame Samsung's Galaxy Gear watch, the Pebble , and the Nike Fuelband . It's easy to believe wearable computing is the next wave of tech innovation. If so, we're not quite there yet, judging by reviews of current products. In fact, some pundits believe innovation is already beginning to run out of steam .

Wearable tech is being attacked from all angles. While the techies wonder if Google Glass can pass the ACID test , everyone else is just having enormous amounts of fun parodying what a family full of wearable computer users might actually look like.

Re: Smartwatches... (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-05-08 09:50 (#1FP)

They've got to do some more innovating then. I like watches. I also surf. So give me a smart watch that somehow does something interesting with my smartphone and gives me a tide indicator (there are all sorts of tide watches for people like me, and there are tide apps too). But that doesn't exist. As far as I can tell, the Gear and other smart watches haven't found much to do other than show me the time, weather, and how many emails/twitter posts I've received. I don't need that. I'm not aware of smart watches having calculator functionality or other things. They're just not that useful.

On the other hand, my next potential gadget is the Jawbone, which looks like a neat health tracker. I'm interested in wearables, just haven't yet found any wearables worth wearing. There's potential here but the app developers are going to have to get beyond Twitter updates on your wrist - boring!