Apple has a horde of people waiting to buy its devices, it will take off thanks to Apple's marketing and then 2-3years from now, they'll start claiming that they invented smart watches.
It all depends on the application. The ones I've seen that act as an extension of some other computing device (typically a phone) are pretty handy (har har).
When used as an additional input device, or for notifications, etc. they are much better for basic interaction than the alternative of accessing the device itself.
i find it really curious. the phone is already a device for consuming notifications. now everyone is trying to sell a smartwatch to consume phone notifications.. its so meta...
The trick is that the phone is a lousy device for consuming notifications. You're either tying up your hand holding it or it's sitting in your pocket and not actually helping. Comparatively, the watch can pass notifications while leaving your hands free, allowing you to get things done.
In the sordid tradition of technology prognosticators, I'm going to make a prediction: there will never be a strong game market for the smartwatch like there was for the smartphone. Games work on the phone because the phone is what you stare at when you're bored. The smartwatch isn't for when you're bored, but rather for when you're busy, so there's no point in gaming on it.
I'll second this, but I think there is possibly a huge market for the watch/healthkit integration. As a runner, I'm really excited about the possibilities of a customizable tracker that I don't have to carry in my hand while I run. Particularly pacing my runs. I'd love to have the adaptive touch let me know when I'm falling out of a set pace.
