Mark Pesce Went to the Apple Store today…
Went to the Apple Store today fully intending to buy an Apple Watch. Because futurists gotta fute.
Weirdly, Paul McDermott seemed to be trying to do the same thing at the same time in the same store.
So there’s that.
When a helpful Apple Store person came along to help me, we found the right watch, he took it from the drawer, and fastened it to me…
I was immediately and deeply revolted by the experience. Actually freaking out a bit.
I was polite enough as he went through the demo and the Apple Watch did its taptic thing – which is also weird and invasive. And waited.
And at the first opportunity, took the Apple Watch off, handed it back to him, and very nearly ran out of the store.
I was very confused by my reaction. It made no sense. First time I’ve ever had that reaction to any sort of Apple product.
After some time and reflection, it became very clear that Apple Watch demands an intimate relationship from the moment you strap it on.
That seems to be just fine for a lot of folks. For me it’s invasive and not at all a pleasant experience. Rather the opposite.
I don’t think it was future shock. That felt a lot more like an uninvited and altogether too intimate guest.
Strapped to my body.
This isn’t about any watch: when I borrowed @johnteeee‘s LG smartwatch for ‘old man yells at cloud’ last week, I really enjoyed it.
I almost didn’t want to give it back and would have bought one except Apple won’t let it play with iOS. Obvs.
The point – with a product so consciously intimate that it can transmit SOMEONE ELSE’S HEARTBEAT – is that introductions matter. A lot.
The Apple Store is not the place to ‘get to know and get comfortable with’ an Apple Watch. It just feels hysterically menacing, somehow.
In the end, this is more about my own psychological mechanics, and where my own boundaries between self and other lie. Obvs.
From @mpesce‘s Twitter feed.
