The Apple Watch was created to stop people looking at smartphone screens so much, says Apple exec
Apple has provided yet another reason to buy an Apple Watch for those still not convinced by the need for the wearable tech after one Apple chief admitted that mobile users are being anti-social by staring at their smartphones too often.
Kevin Lynch, head of Apple Watch software, told Wired that the company first envisioned the smartwatch back in 2011 as a means of ungluing people from their smartphone screens in a bid to help them engage more than others.
He argued that by enabling Apple Watch owners to keep up to date with notifications with a quick glance to their wrist, they would be more focused on talking to those in the room.
On the concept of rerouting notifications from the mobile to the wrist, Lynch said: “We’re so connected, kind of ever-presently, with technology now; people are carrying their phones with them and looking at the screen so much.
“People want that level of engagement, 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?”
In the interview, Alan Dye, chief of Apple’s human interface group, also admitted the company had no idea what function the smartwatch would fulfill.
Dye said: “Here was a sense that technology was going to move onto the body, we felt like the natural place, the place that had historical relevance and significance, was the wrist.”
On the customisable nature of the devices, Dye added: “If you’re going to put something on your body and wear it and it’s going to be on your wrist, we can’t not pay attention to that.”
The device is set to hit markets internationally 9 April.
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