Substrate

Like many of Apple’s biggest hits, it wasn’t immediately well-understood. ​ In hindsight, I think the rollout of the Apple Watch was unnecessarily complicated for a first-generation product. ​ it’s truly the kind of product that you need to use to understand it. ​ But despite the allure of recent models’ GPS capabilities and far nicer industrial design, I have not had the itch to upgrade. ​ it’s still a little strange to see so many people wearing the exact same watch every day. ​ Rather than augmenting what I already wear, it replaces something. ​ Finally, there’s something about wearing an Apple Watch with my AirPods in my ears while looking at an iPhone that makes me feel, well, a little bit dorky. I don’t want to make a big deal out of this; I’m sure it’s just elevated levels of self-consciousness that are more indicative of who I am than of the device. This is almost certainly a me problem. But, still. Akin to Ryan’s old Rule of Three tweet about Apple devices (https://twitter.com/ryandawidjan/status/930511618529746944). Or I can leave it in the bank and add to it for a watch that’s far more like a piece of jewellery than it is a wrist computer. Even the nicest stainless steel Apple Watch is still identifiable primarily as a device. I have also learned something over the last four years that I’ve used an Apple Watch: I learned that my hesitance to upgrade is not from a lack of new features — there are plenty of those — but almost the opposite. I don’t know that I want more of anything happening on my wrist; I guess I just want less.