tom2517
300
Umm
Mar 20, 2015,05:55 AM
I think they are different. Digital photograph changed the way people photograph and sharing, quartz watches essentially is just a cheaper and more accurate way of powering a watch.
Smart wearables have the potential to change how people uses wrist devices, it can interact with our surroundings and with our bodies.
I agree that wrist watch is a luxury item, but what is a luxury item? It is something that's nice to have but not really needed.
But what Apple and others want to do with wearables is to make it needed, and that is the challenge for them, how will they convince us that it is essential to have one?
I also agree that fine art and mechanical wrist watches are here to stay, but mechanical wristwatches will likely become more of a collector's item, if Apple and others successfully convinced mainstream to use smart wearables, and that's what the Swiss watch industry should be wary of. Elite brands might survive, since they cater to a small niche market, but a bulk of Swiss exports are under $1000, these might be wiped out by wearables.
Furthermore, quartz is just a power source that can be easily implemented by the Swiss into their watches (and they do), but smart wearables are a whole different game, a game the Swiss won't be able to play by themselves.
These are just the first generations of smart wearables, it's too early to write them off.