I wasn’t in the audience at the time, but the very first time I saw the video of Steve Jobs presenting the iPhone to the world I was in awe.
Sure we had plenty of smartphones previously but this was something entirely different.
I pre-ordered mine as soon as I possibly could.
It had nothing to do with my work trying to understand the latest new thing. I wanted it for myself. After I had embraced this new thing, my mind opened up to a world of possibilities, for my personal life and my professional life.
I pre-ordered the next iPhone and every other one that came out since. And last week I did the same thing with the iPhone 6. It looks like another insanely great product.
Last week, along with so many people around the world I watched Apple introduce the Watch.
It is a thing of beauty. It’s thoughtful, well designed and capable.
But at this time I don’t have any plans to pre-order it when it becomes available.
I really don’t want another thing to power up and charge in my life. I don’t want another thing to interrupt my moments. I don’t want to see any sort of notification when I’m playing basketball in the driveway with the kids. I am finding the joy of walking into my house, taking the phone out of my pocket and leaving it on the counter.
I love the miracle of the mobile, high speed internet. But I want to choose my time with and without.
There is a real possibility that by not getting an Apple Watch I will miss out on important emerging trends. That’s a concern I suppose. Or maybe developers figure out how to innovate and respect our time along the way.
There is also a chance I eat the words of this very post as we get learn more about Watch and as it’s capabilities radically improve as these things always do.
But less is more in so many ways and this might be another example. At least that’s how I’m feeling at the moment.