Look at this bland Apple Watch-less wrist. Look at the pale mark showing where it once was; this is what I have been looking at multiple times throughout the day. All because I left my watch at home, for the first time in almost a year. And I have to say, I feel it absence.

People often ask me if I think the Apple Watch was worth it, or what necessary function it performs. Usually I don’t put much thought into my response because, well, I didn’t make an informed decision about what this watch was for when I bought it. I just wanted it. I wanted the awesome gadget; I wanted to feel that feeling of having a bit of the future in my hands, like I did back in 2010 when I was an early adopter of the iPad (which people often questioned the usefulness of also).

So for me the Apple Watch didn’t really have to prove itself to me, I was just excited at getting it. At the novelty it provided. But now, being apart from it for the first time in a long time, I can actually start to evaluate its usefulness in my regular quotidian existence.

While I don’t think the Apple Watch represents as significant of a shift in the way we view digital information as the iPad did, I can definitely say, after this mere eight hours without it on my wrist, that it has a place in my life.

So much of how I deal with my phone, and the information I get, seems like a chore without my watch.

• What’s the time? I guess I will have to pull out my phone.
• What was that buzz in my pocket? Better unlock my phone and have a look.
• How much money do I have for lunch? Please wait a moment while I dig into my pocket.
• What’s the temperature? Siri can tell me, but I used to just have to turn my wrist.

Now yeah, I get it, it is a lazy thing. It is an indulgence, a first world luxury. So it makes getting my notifications easier, big deal; life isn’t about notifications.

But you know what, for some pretty important parts of my life, it is.

My wife and son are in Melbourne for a visit to the eye doctors after surgery last week, and so every beep and buzz of my phone leaves me feeling anxious that this is the news I have been waiting for. So far all day it hasn’t been, but I have had to check my phone each time just to see.

Plus what is life about really? I don’t think any of us can claim to know with any confidence

But one thing I know for certain about life is that it is finite. We only have so much time to experience the world we live in, so many hours to spend with the people we love. The philosopher Seneca spoke about the shortness of life; “It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much”. My Apple Watch saves me time, and for me that is good enough.

#AppleWatch #FirstWorldProblems