If wearable technology is the future the Apple is in trouble. I don’t say this because I dislike the company. I have an iPhone. I throw money at iTunes. I didn’t fight it when Apple decided to own my free time.

Now you may argue that the Internet of Things is the future of humanity. I won’t argue with that. I believe that we will keep adding technology to our lives. That is not where I am coming from. Instead, I feel that Apple is not in a position to lead the wearable technology charge. I have two reasons for this statement. First, what has made Apple successful is contrary to the idea of tie in technology. Second, Apple, and other companies, haven’t figure out how to sell the items innovatively.

The following is my reasoning. I don’t have any special knowledge. I don’t know any secrets. This is just how I see things.

Apple’s successful innovations have always seemed to consolidate things into one device or piece of software. Their computer literally made computers smaller and personal. iTunes and their mp3 players took all of our CDs and DVDs and put them in one store, stored them in one account, and made them accessible through any device we choose to connect to the account. The iPod Touch brought more things together. It took our collected media and added in games, email, social media, and direct access to the stores. The iPhone went even further and merged our cell phones with the iPod Touch to create one super device. Now the iPhone can be our wallet as well with its ability to store our club cards and the development of Apple Pay. Apple earned their reputation, and their revenues, by taking our clutter, our CDs, our laptop emails, our mp3 players, our GPS, our wallets, and our phones and made one expensive device. Apple has a history of success with products that take two items and making them one.

Now, one could argue that the iPad is adding back in additional physical items. While that is true if you consider the iPad as a larger iPhone it is not if you consider it as a parallel device meant to substitute for things the iPhone isn’t. The iPad is consolidating some of the things the iPhone consolidates but it also gets rid of our need for an e-book reader, which got rid of our need for books, and some tablets, I’m not sure about any specific one because I don’t own a tablet because I find them superfluous and cumbersome but I believe there are some limited computer programs on some tablets that makes it less necessary to have a laptop or to use a laptop as frequently.

This innovative consolidation completely changed the market. Even if you don’t but into Apple you are affected. Competitors try to become more like Apple with their own music platforms and multi-function devices. The market has been driven by a reaction to the consumer support for Apple.

Much of Apple’s revenue comes from the iPhone and no company wants to be dependent on one product for their survival. This is especially true when that product is surviving through cosmetic changes and predictable new generations without any real leaps in utilization. So it is not a surprise to me that Apple is looking for the next big product like they did with the iPad.

It does surprise me that they think that is a watch that doesn’t function independent of another device. What didn’t kill the iPad, in my opinion, is its ability to function independent of another device, as long as the user has an account. As soon as the iWatch was announced I expected it to flop. You can ask all my imaginary friends I ranted to. Not only did they have supply issues and a slower start to sales but they are also having to fight for market share far more than with any of their other products. And one of the major factors in pricing the watch is what other brand is being associated with it as a special version.

This is why I think Apple isn’t positioned in the consumer’s mind correctly to sell a watch. I also feel like we are going in the wrong direction with this whole idea in the first place.

When I envision the future I don’t see people wearing more external gear that they have to actively search for in physical space. I see the technology integrating with us in a much more natural way. I don’t want a step tracking bracelet. I want contacts with social media displays. I want holoprojected interfaces. I want an embedded chip with a bio-metric feed. I super don’t want an ugly watch.

My general feeling, if it doesn’t improve me as an entity or it doesn’t consolidate my external world I don’t need it.

Vehemently yours,

Prisma