Yes, now the Apple Watch may require an iPhone to function but inevitably it will be a standalone product capable of utilizing a cellular connection after a few generations. In analyzing my iPhone usage out of the house, I have realized that the Apple Watch could replace all but situations that require typing on my iPhone. If I am hanging out somewhere, eating out, or at school I really do not need to carry a full phone. In fact, there are more situations where I could get by just fine with an Apple Watch that had cellular capabilities and native apps (which are coming later this year) than not. In place of my iPhone, I would more than likely carry around an iPad Air if I feel I will need more full-featured apps. Hell, I would be perfectly content with a 7" iPhone if I already had an Apple Watch.
What Apple Watch does now is limit you and make you even more tether to a phone. What it could do is let you focus more on the world around you rather than being stuck in the digital world of your phone, and that could be a major aspect of it going forward. The Apple Watch may very well bring us to a simpler time when people weren't tethered to their phone all-day and only use technology when out on a need-to basis.
What Apple Watch does now is limit you and make you even more tether to a phone. What it could do is let you focus more on the world around you rather than being stuck in the digital world of your phone, and that could be a major aspect of it going forward. The Apple Watch may very well bring us to a simpler time when people weren't tethered to their phone all-day and only use technology when out on a need-to basis.