The Apple Watch
Apple's glossy adverts on their latest gadget definitely caught my eye. The last time I lusted for any of their products to this extent was when they first released the iPod Touch. That feeling I had for the Apple Watch definitely felt very familiar indeed.
When it finally arrived in Singapore, I experienced it first at the Nubox store in Tampines Mall. I have been frequenting the Tampines Central area very frequently the past 2 years as one of my project sites is within the vicinity. I stepped into the store and saw the wooden and glass table enclosure that housed all the available watches in the various colour and watch strap variants. There were also working demo watches that were fixed down that people could play with. I started fiddling with the display model, but got rather confused. I could foresee myself getting stupid with the device, and had second thoughts.
About a month of deliberation passed. I knew in my heart that the act of getting it was inevitable. It was just a matter of time before it would happen, just awaiting the tipping point. What would the tipping point be?
Over the SG50 super-long weekend, I was in town shopping with a friend when the topic of the Apple Watch came up. He too had been thinking whether to get it or not, and I shared with him that the thought crossed my mind too. And then he said, "Did you know that the Apple Watch can serve as a remote viewfinder linked to the camera on your iPhone?"
I froze for a moment, and exclaimed, "Let's go get me an Apple Watch!"
Barely an hour later, we found ourselves settled down at a cafe to unravel our purchase. We both got the stainless steel model with a white fluoroelastomer band. I really wanted the black one, but the store was out of stock. Both of us were behaving like total geeks as we begun setting up the watch. Thankfully it came with enough battery power to perform the setup and continual usage till the end of the day.
It was National Day. SG50.
10 days into using it, I am still gawking at the awesome design and surprisingly comfortable fit on the wrist. Apple has yet to open the gates to allow 3rd party software developers to create native apps for the watch, till the 2nd version of the OS is launched in a few weeks time. Nonetheless, I already found the customisable watch face to be such a cool thing to be able to set on a watch. Love the responsiveness and accuracy of Siri too. I can also engage in short phone calls via the watch with its built-in mic and speaker (didn't know that initially!). Obsessed with the remote iPhone camera viewfinder function.
I hope my fascination with this device will never end.
**********