What Apple Watch 2 probably won't solve

This Wednesday will most likely see the reveal of iPhone 7 and Apple Watch 2. While both are eagerly expected, the watch will have to work much harder in order for you to really want one. And it may not happen this time around just yet.

We all know why we have an iPhone and it has become our most intimate relationship. So much so that being removed from it can cause Nomophobia.

Apple Watch, however, is a 17 months old baby. Most people who own a smartwatch experience no anxieties when leaving them off. And for an entirely new category barely in the Early Adopter phase that's alright.

New category successes can take time and lots of iterations. The telephone, personal computer and the internet were all deemed largely useless for many years before they gained traction.

Better and better

Back in May, Tim Cook himself addressed the Apple Watch with Jim Cramer, saying "We're still in learning mode. We're learning fairly quickly, though. We know a lot more than we did a year ago. And you'll see the Apple Watch getting better and better.”

There’s no reason to doubt the man, his dedication or deep pockets. So, let’s take a look at where exactly the watch needs to get better to hit mass adoption.

Purpose

The role of most devices in our lives is more or less well defined – A computer for work, a phone for anything personal and a tablet for the couch.

Without a large screen and processing power smartwatches can’t compete with those visual communication devices. Nor should they.

Apple knows this and has changed their tune. Last year they communicated generic attributes like: personal and customizable device with endless possibilities through apps. This year we see a sharp focus on two purposes: notifications and activity/health.

Health

It's reassuring to know that health is Apple’s longer term goal. A rapid-fire wrist distraction is going the wrong way at a time we start understanding the benefits of Monotasking for productivity and well-being. Plus, notifications are just so 2013.

Privacy concerns aside, health in combination with IoT is incredibly exciting and valuable. Soon passive movement trackers will become active real-time advisors for our well-being. With an understanding of our bodies and the impact of prescribed drugs on us they’ll be able to autonomously notify doctors when something’s not right. Just wearing them will create the largest constant medical data ascertainment ever. An unprecedented promise for medical advancement and individual care.

Current devices only track movement and pulse, leaving lots of room to getting ‘better and better’. But though installing more sensors proves difficult , Apple Watch 3 or 4 could serve up very insightful data and find a true purpose in our lives. A wearable is clearly better suited to record minuscule health details than a phone on your desk.

But there's another area where Apple intends to score and that's data interaction.

Siri

A year ago I predicted Apple Watch's role to be that of a microphone and we’re still well on track for that vision. AI and voice recognition continue to improve at rapid pace and soon talking with Siri will feel more like a conversation than giving instructions. Reliable voice recognition on our wrist will make us comfortable doing outside what devices like Amazon Echo and Apple TV allow us to do at home already: talk out loud.

Remember the early days of mobile phones? Many people were uncomfortable to publicly talk into them. Today, depending on your cultural and social environment, they just pick them up during a meeting, in elevators, bathrooms and at the dinner table. Vocal commands in public will become a thing.

Apple Watch 2 gets more on-board processing power for snappier voice interaction. And since improvements to Siri require no hardware change, it will magically continue to ‘get better and better'. Maybe even help save lifes.

Conclusion

Yes, GPS, waterproofing and a camera are nice additions. So is the possibility to open hotel doors, cars and to switch on the lights at home, but small features spec bumps won’t do the trick to make the watch indispensable.

Apple must continue to shape a true and permanent purpose for it like becoming an indispensable health device and/or be the gateway to a whole new vocal interaction experience with our data.

Panerai Radiomir 1940 3 Days Automatic Acciaio PAM00572. Source: Panerai

*One more thing (around the wrist)

Watches have a different place in people’s lives than phones.

Smartphones, while only 10 years young, have become mere temporary containers for our apps and data. They are status symbols for just a few weeks and are replaced after 12 to 24 months. Watches, however, have been around since 200 years and aren't disposed of that quickly. The real good ones are inherited after decades without losing much of their value or role as status symbol.

Why?

For women, a watch accompanies her jewelry and outfit and a matching watch is a matter of style and beauty. For men, who wear little to no accessories, the choice for a watch is the single most important wearable expression of character. The craftsmanship and story of the brand play a big role, so for both genders a watch tells a lot more than just the information on its face. It signifies appreciation for the finer things in life.

So, in comparison to the size, weight and details in mechanical timepieces, smartwatches feel like temporary gadgets, unable to express the individual character of the wearer. And as such they can't replace a watch.

Could Apple create a ‘nano’ wristband version with sensors and microphone, but no display? I doubt it. It seems too far off their roadmap.

But that's a ‘better’ which yours truly would buy into immediately.

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