by Jason Snell
‘The secret history of the Apple Watch’
Major behind-the-scenes profile of the Apple Watch development process from David Pierce at Wired:
Along the way, the Apple team landed upon the Watch’s raison d’être. It came down to this: Your phone is ruining your life. Like the rest of us, Ive, Lynch, Dye, and everyone at Apple are subject to the tyranny of the buzz—the constant checking, the long list of nagging notifications. “We’re so connected, kind of ever-presently, with technology now,” Lynch says. “People are carrying their phones with them and looking at the screen so much.” They’ve glared down their noses at those who bury themselves in their phones at the dinner table and then absentmindedly thrust hands into their own pockets at every ding or buzz. “People want that level of engagement,” Lynch says. “But how do we provide it in a way that’s a little more human, a little more in the moment when you’re with somebody?”
This is exactly what I want to hear from Apple. The Apple Watch is not about creating another device to distract us; it’s meant to organize, clarify, and reduce the distractions we get from our smartphones. We’ll see soon whether this first iteration delivers.