Like a child of the 80’s sat eagerly glued to BBC one, awaiting the next innovation, desperate to see what we would be doing in the future courtesy of Tomorrow World, the team at Timber who are all avid Apple fans! We sat watching the Apple special event on Monday, to the news of the new Apple Watch!
Yup a watch, not just a watch, to tell the time, no no no, we have those, this is shinny and new, and has an Apple badge on it…
so after much debate, and chat, we thought we’d write an article on our thoughts.
Apple Watch see the trailer
When a watch is something more than a time piece
It is not so many years ago that when a loyal company employee hit the magic forty years of service that he was rewarded with a gold watch for his /her loyalty, similarly it was the preferred present for a retirement. The gold watch represented – a treasured memento and a sign of appreciation.
How times have changed with the advent of so many electronic devices that display the time, the date the weather anywhere in the world etc , the basic watch that simply tells the time is slowly becoming obsolete. The next time you are out on your local High Street try a quick “wrist survey” you may be surprised at how many people under say thirty no longer where a watch. If you are a Golfer you will know better than to ask your playing partners the time – odds are that which is strapped to the wrist and looks like a watch is actually a range finder – it is starting to get very confusing and it is about to get worse!
The watch, if we are to accept the findings of a recent BBC news article reviewing the latest “Apple” technology: see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31794823 suggests that in the not too distant future the watch as most of us know it will no longer be used to tell the time it will be used to actually run our lives. The benefits the watch will enjoy are dependent upon the software and APPs developed by third parties –
“The firm said on stage that thousands of new apps had already been developed for the Watch ahead of it going on sale.
The social networks Facebook and Instagram, the car pick-up service Uber and the Chinese messaging app WeChat are among those confirmed to have developed software for the device.
Apple touted the Watches ability to unlock compatible hotel room doors
Apple also highlighted that its wrist-worn device could be used to make touchless payments and receive phone calls.
Other functions demonstrated by Apple included:
- using the Watch as a means to open a compatible hotel room lock as an alternative to a key card
- checking the name of a song via the app Shazam
- opening an internet-connected garage door remotely”
At the GFD Group – because we have an interest in anything doors related specifically noted the fact that your watch could be used to open selected doors – if it can open hotel room doors and garage doors – how long before it is the front door to your home. Not that opening a front door remotely is new there are a number of keyless systems on the market which operate from a key pad rather than a key and as recently as last summer on our Timber Composite Doors web site we ourselves included a blog advertising the use of a key fob as used for cars as a new option for opening your front door.
At GFD Group we like to think of ourselves as pretty forward thinking so we can assure all of our customers that when the technology is available we at the GFD Group will be out there sourcing the best way we can introduce it for our customers.
So, when will the leading door manufacturers and hardware companies come out with a new app?
It’s only a matter of time