The other day, I completed my morning run and reached for my
left wrist to stop the activity, I realized I wasn’t wearing anything that I
could stop. No watch, no smartphone. I felt wow!. This happened because my arm
band for phone had worn out and so had my Garmin GPS watch strap a few days ago
– after years of loyalty :).
So, I had just gone out on the run without any of these wearables on me. I can
honestly say that I felt I ran faster, more freely with nothing on my mind
other than running and felt lighter all the way.
That’s when I realized that, somehow these phones, watches etc.
have this passive effect of making you run for them (or for your friends)
rather than for yourself. You have this background thought of beating your
previous record, pace etc. and showing it off on the race portal or Facebook. Don’t
get me wrong it feels good to keep records, beat records and mutual
encouragement from friends helps a lot. However, it does come at a price – the
price is your freedom – your native-ness :).
Your ability to not worry about anything else but to do what you like – only
for yourself.
Above is a snapshot of my tracked runs. It feels good to see
how many miles I have put on and how many virtual calories I have burnt all these years. But other
than days when I am training for my races, I don’t think I care for any
records or tracking.
Where I am leading to with this is that I find that wearable
don’t necessarily have much of a future. After an initial hype and feel-good
factor, dust will settle down. Because these just come with a very big baggage.
Remember those Bluetooth headsets, these came in all kind of form factor –
small, big, stylish, with blue light, without the light and so on. Today, I rarely
see many people around me sporting these any more. It does not seem trendy any more. And I personally hate those ear plug types.
Similarly, we do so much like it when our phone does not
ring for hours and hours. I realized this when I was out of coverage area for a
few days in the serene surroundings of my home town on one of the vacations. It
felt great to be off the grid and be
more human.
The technology behind all of this is smart and useful and
will perhaps continue to follow us in one form or another. But, I believe, as
we mature in the digital age, we are going to start moving towards less and
less of these wearables and gadgets and try to become more and more humans
unless perhaps a chip start growing as a natural part of our human body –
evolution – who knows!. After couple of years, we will talk about “Being Human”
more than “Artificial Intelligence” or “Wearables” or “Smartphones” – but then
who knows. Till then, lets play.
Comments