Ottolenghi Media

BY RAFAEL PERDOMO

© Apple Inc, 2014

This analysis may serve no greater purpose than just a simple musing in trying to define what the Apple Watch is — or is not. It may cause more questions than give you answers. It may be completely off base and very telling of my beliefs towards technology. What it will definitely show is that Applehas once again garnered free publicity in the wake of introducing a revolutionary product.

What makes the Apple Watch difficult to define is how it completely lacks definition. In the past, Apple created technology products. They served a clear purpose and solved a specific problem.

In the field of wearable technology, or wearables, this definition is blurred. Apple prided itself as being at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts. Now that it’s taken an Uber ride to 5th Avenue.

In its strictest definition, jewelry is a durable ornament. As such, it serves as a symbol, heralding your wealth to the world. A timepiece by Rolex serves two purposes: telling time, and informing people that you have money.

By introducing manufactured obsolescence into the timepiece, the Apple Watch now redefines your level of wealth. No longer can you invest heavily in a timepiece, pass it down from generation to generation, and it still have social worth decades after its purchase.

Now you need to have the latest iteration of the AppleWatch. Your investment in the Apple Watch becomes a throwaway after Apple Watch 2.0 is introduced. Gone is the possibility of handing down your Apple Watch to your grandchildren upon their high school graduation. The Apple Watch is consumable luxury, a fashioned piece of metal that can’t stand the test of time.

There’s no bus stop at the intersection of technology and high fashion. Wearable technology doesn’t get off there. The computer revolution promised us equality. It promised us freedom from menial and oppressive tasks. It promised us empowerment.

In heralding all the design aspects of thewatch (the high-end model features 18-Karat gold) and by discussing its utilitarian purpose as an afterthought, this wearable is clearly not intended for a common man. Apple has traded the powerful hammer itwielded in 1984 for the trappings of aristocracy.