All this Apple Watch hype in the last couple of weeks has made me look back on this longtime fascination I’ve had with watches that were quite smart and innovative back in their day:
I'm an 80s kid but it wasn’t until the very early 90s that “digital diaries” and “electronic organizers” became popular and that’s around when I discovered the Casio Databank Telememo watch. I vividly remember the first time I saw it. My older cousin had just gotten one and he was showing off to me how he could store people’s names and numbers into it. For some unexplainable reason, this blew my mind away. I needed this watch immediately. Days later, my poor uncle had to walk up and down the streets of Chinatown in NYC until he was finally able to track one down at one of those mom-and-pop closet-sized jewelry stores. I can recall the joy that took over me and how that watch became my everything. I was approximately 9 years old at the time so, obviously, I didn’t have any contacts to actually put into the watch so, in addition to my home number, I programmed all of my grandmother’s friends’ phone numbers because I didn’t know anyone else I could use for this purpose. This didn't matter to me at all. All that mattered was that this watch could perform sorcery (at least that's how it felt to me at that age lol) and that it was finally on my wrist.
A couple years later, among an array of calculator watches and more advanced databank-type watches, the Casio Wrist Remote Controller emerged. I remember seeing one for the first time in a Service Merchandise catalog and, instantly, it became a must-have for me. Within days, I had convinced my parents of how necessary this watch was in my life and they got me one. This watch was able to turn a TV on & off, it also controlled the channels and volume in a simple up/down fashion, and it performed basic functions on a VCR (stop, play rewind, fast forward). Perhaps with the exception of tech geeks and other kids like me, it felt like nobody else knew of this watch and that allowed me to have a lot of fun messing with people’s TVs at their homes, at restaurants, laundromats, etc, but my favorite place to mess with people was at school. It goes without saying that I pissed off a few teachers and students anytime we got to watch videos in class.
In the mid-90s Timex rolled out the popular Indiglo series of watches that changed how digital watches lit up in low light situations. Up until that point, the lighting on digital watches was very basic so this became my newest obsession and I had a couple of these watches throughout junior high. Although these particular watches didn't do anything cool, like store phone numbers or control TVs, it did introduce to me a new technology that I found to be very cool and innovative at the time so that’s why I included it in this post.
I’m 33 years old now and it’s been approximately eight years since I’ve actively worn a watch. I’ve owned a few throughout that time but they just sit in a drawer 99% of the time. I’m not sure why I lost interest in watches but I think that the introduction of the iPod and iPhone played a huge role in that. And I’d heard of watches such as the Pebble but for some reason they’ve never sparked any interest in me. But here we are, about to usher in a new era for Apple, and one that is going to reignite my love for awesome, wow-inducing watches. I know there are many people out there who don't see the purpose of an Apple Watch or view it as nothing more than an extension of the iPhone but that doesn't matter. Nine year-old me is so excited for this and all the possibilities that this watch could bring to us. It feels awesome to have this feeling come back after so many years and I think this is going to be my favorite Apple toy yet.
I'm an 80s kid but it wasn’t until the very early 90s that “digital diaries” and “electronic organizers” became popular and that’s around when I discovered the Casio Databank Telememo watch. I vividly remember the first time I saw it. My older cousin had just gotten one and he was showing off to me how he could store people’s names and numbers into it. For some unexplainable reason, this blew my mind away. I needed this watch immediately. Days later, my poor uncle had to walk up and down the streets of Chinatown in NYC until he was finally able to track one down at one of those mom-and-pop closet-sized jewelry stores. I can recall the joy that took over me and how that watch became my everything. I was approximately 9 years old at the time so, obviously, I didn’t have any contacts to actually put into the watch so, in addition to my home number, I programmed all of my grandmother’s friends’ phone numbers because I didn’t know anyone else I could use for this purpose. This didn't matter to me at all. All that mattered was that this watch could perform sorcery (at least that's how it felt to me at that age lol) and that it was finally on my wrist.
A couple years later, among an array of calculator watches and more advanced databank-type watches, the Casio Wrist Remote Controller emerged. I remember seeing one for the first time in a Service Merchandise catalog and, instantly, it became a must-have for me. Within days, I had convinced my parents of how necessary this watch was in my life and they got me one. This watch was able to turn a TV on & off, it also controlled the channels and volume in a simple up/down fashion, and it performed basic functions on a VCR (stop, play rewind, fast forward). Perhaps with the exception of tech geeks and other kids like me, it felt like nobody else knew of this watch and that allowed me to have a lot of fun messing with people’s TVs at their homes, at restaurants, laundromats, etc, but my favorite place to mess with people was at school. It goes without saying that I pissed off a few teachers and students anytime we got to watch videos in class.
In the mid-90s Timex rolled out the popular Indiglo series of watches that changed how digital watches lit up in low light situations. Up until that point, the lighting on digital watches was very basic so this became my newest obsession and I had a couple of these watches throughout junior high. Although these particular watches didn't do anything cool, like store phone numbers or control TVs, it did introduce to me a new technology that I found to be very cool and innovative at the time so that’s why I included it in this post.
I’m 33 years old now and it’s been approximately eight years since I’ve actively worn a watch. I’ve owned a few throughout that time but they just sit in a drawer 99% of the time. I’m not sure why I lost interest in watches but I think that the introduction of the iPod and iPhone played a huge role in that. And I’d heard of watches such as the Pebble but for some reason they’ve never sparked any interest in me. But here we are, about to usher in a new era for Apple, and one that is going to reignite my love for awesome, wow-inducing watches. I know there are many people out there who don't see the purpose of an Apple Watch or view it as nothing more than an extension of the iPhone but that doesn't matter. Nine year-old me is so excited for this and all the possibilities that this watch could bring to us. It feels awesome to have this feeling come back after so many years and I think this is going to be my favorite Apple toy yet.
Watch before operating any heavy machinery. BTW, I think that would make me more afraid of cardboard than anything.
