The Apple Watch has the curious distinction of being the least Apple-like Apple product I’ve ever used. It’s not a creative tool with the engaging intensity of a Mac or iPhone, nor is it a relaxing media player like the iPod, Apple TV, or iPad. It’s neither lean-forward nor lean-back computing; it’s short-burst computing, and the ergonomics enforce it.
Forget browsing, forget composing, forget fiddling, forget flow states; if you try to make it that computer you’ll be quickly frustrated. The Watch is an Internet utility belt. Dashboard Widgets for the wrist. It takes bite-sized tasks, performs them, and shows you the results.
Looking back, the iPhone was the world’s greatest convergence device: in its very first outing it consolidated my cell phone, my iPod, and my digital camera, and it gave me a GPS and a full-featured pants-pocket web browser. Holy shit. Do you remember when they were all separate devices? Besides a Fitbit, I haven’t carried an electronic device other than my phone in years.