Let me just check my... WRIST COMPUTER! THAT SHOOTS LASERS!

[mmcirvin]

Douglas Adams had the joke about the phase of an immature civilization's development in which it believes that digital watches are a clever idea. Digital watches are still fairly popular (mostly at the cheap end of the market), and I never had quite the antipathy to them that Adams did; but in that connection, it occurs to me that I've personally witnessed the end of the era in which humanity's nerd vanguard collectively believed that the logical place for any arbitrarily advanced item of personal tech was on one's wrist. For a time in the Eighties I actually wore what you might call a primitive wrist PDA, a Seiko watch that could store a few text messages (you entered them using an incredibly painful browse-the-alphabet-menu interface). And those Casio calculator watches were all over. I never saw one of these, though.

You actually can buy a wrist TV if you go looking for one, but only a high-octane variety of dork would actually wear one (hmm, they seem to be marketing it to obsessive sports fans). As Nathan Shumate observed, the wristphone was a non-starter, even though the necessary technology now exists and it was a perennial dream of futurists.

What are wrist-mounted devices actually good for? Displays that require no interaction, and convey little enough information that you can read them in a tiny format from some distance. That basically means a clock, with possible minor augmentations. I think the space has been pretty much explored.

Comments

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

If you do a Google search today for "wrist computer", most of what you get are dive computers. Which is an application that actually makes sense.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Also on that site: the watch with LCD porn (http://pocketcalculatorshow.com/magicalgadget/index2.html#sexum) (NSFW, I guess).

Under a wrist

[infrogmation.livejournal.com]

I'm amused when folks who use cell phones as their watch have to dig it out of their pocket and open the case to tell what time it is-- they just need to have the phones attached by chains to their watch fobs to complete reinactment of their great grandparents. (Also, too many of them have the audio fidelity of an 1890s telephone. HELLO ARE YOU THERE?)

Well, one more cup from my two-way-wrist-coffeemaker, and off to the parades.

Re: Under a wrist

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

I bought a watch with a chain, and couldn't figure out where to store it. Modern jackets don't always have internal pockets, or anything to hang the watch off of.

It seems the three places to store a cell phone are: on the belt, in the cargo pants, or at the bottom of a cluttered purse with fifteen different compartments.

Re: Under a wrist

[doctroid.livejournal.com]

I bought a watch with a chain, and couldn't figure out where to store it.

I used a pocket watch for a while, usually on a chain connected to a belt loop with the watch in a trouser pocket. Charming watch, but too much a pain to use. And it used up pocket real estate.

And so do those remote control fobs for car locks.

It seems the three places to store a cell phone are: on the belt, in the cargo pants, or at the bottom of a cluttered purse with fifteen different compartments.

Or the outside front zippered pocket of a purse with fifteen different compartments. Which is what I do. Of course being a Guy I call it a Bag and not a Purse, and it's very functional black Cordura.

I keep my PDA in the same pocket. Before I got the cell phone I kept the PDA in a case, usually on my belt, but when I added the phone (and the handsfree, and the charger, and the manual which I needed occasionally when I first got the phone) I decided to go the Bag route.

And as of Friday we have a new car, replacing the 1994 Corolla, so I now have two remote fobs. The good news is... the new car, a Prius, has the "smart entry / smart start" option, which means the fob almost never actually has to be dug out and manipulated, it just has to be on my person somewhere... so it's living in the bag, too, at least for now. We'll see how that works out.

No MP3 player living there, yet.

Re: Under a wrist

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

This is a warning! Step away from the car! This car is protected by Viper! (http://www.tmbw.net/wiki/index.php/I_Can_Hear_You/Lyrics)

Re: Under a wrist

[paracelsvs.livejournal.com]

At some point, I realized that I was paying too much attention to time, and it wasn't making me happy. Looking at your watch when it's on your wrist is just TOO easy. Since I didn't want to quit wearing a watch cold turkey, I just took off the wrist strap and kept it in my pocket. Later, a cell phone took over that role. And it did make me happier.

Also, I can't help but notice that the US is the only place where "cell phones have bad sound quality" jokes seem to exist.

Re: Under a wrist

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Malcolm X said to never trust a man who didn't wear a wristwatch, because that man would not be serious about the use of time. So I wear a wristwatch so that Malcolm X will like me.

Sincerely, Your pal, Whitey

Re: Under a wrist

[glitter-ninja.livejournal.com]

My cell is just for emergencies, but I was tickled when I discovered (after having it for 3 months) that I could use it as a watch. Zoiks! I can't stand wearing watches so it's handy for the few times in my life I really need to know the time.

My grandma's 1930s telephone had better sound than my cell. I would still use her phone if I was confident enough to solder the wire that came unattached.

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

I have a friend with a wrist MP3 player.

I'd also like a wrist compass.

Also, Leela from Futurama wore a computer the size ofa large bracer.

Also, a reminder watch: "The training function reminds the user to perform specified behavior (GO BATHROOM, STRETCH, POSTURE) at designated intervals such as every 3, 5, 10 or up to every 60 minutes."

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

I find myself actually getting some use out of shirt breast pockets: it's a good place to stick an iPod or similar device. I end up using the touch wheel to adjust the volume through the fabric, and it looks like I am doing some kind of weird nipple stimulation thing, or playing Star Trek: TNG Communicator.

I'm amused by how much of the media cooing over the social implications of the iPod applies equally well to an early-1980s Walkman. (That same Web site laments that the remaining personal cassette stereos you can buy now are often worse than the ones you could get 20 years ago, because they're now considered cheap, outmoded commodities rather than cool, stylish items.)

But the wrist seems like a suboptimal place for an MP3 player; I suppose you can see the display and controls well there, but it also means there's a wire running from your wrist. For just listening, the bicep band or belt hook are probably better. (Or just integrate them into the headset like those teeny Eighties head-radios (or the monstrous Seventies ones), but the design seems to be evolving away from that option. As a general rule, though, I suppose you can put a flash MP3 player now anywhere you could put an FM radio 20 years ago.)

[doctroid.livejournal.com]

I find myself actually getting some use out of shirt breast pockets

That works for me as long as I'm vertical. But I have a hard time remembering to guard against stuff falling out of the pocket when I bend over to pick something up. I destroyed my first PDA that way.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

The reminder watch might be good for reminding obsessive cube drones to take RSI breaks.

[schwa242.livejournal.com]

I used to have the Casio Melody, which I got when I was five or six. It lasted about six or seven years until the wristband broke and the back no longer stayed on. I also had a calculator model, and one of those transforming robot watches during my fascination with robots that turned into things. Eventually, my body got a nice little allergy to non-surgical metals, and I stopped wearing wristwatches and wore pocketwatches instead. For the last couple years, I have no portable timepiece on my person, and have done fine for the most part.

There's also this super l33t geek watch. Of course, we have cell phones to do that new, amongst other useless functions formerly provided by digital watches.

-- Schwa ---

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

I suppose that as long as there is a Casio, somebody will be trying to cram everything into a wristwatch.