2001: When we kept a watch on the watchPad

Let’s reach into the bin of great concepts that never quite made it!  It’s hard to remember with all the hype surrounding the Apple Watch that over a decade ago, IBM was demonstrating the WatchPad.  The watch, weighing at 43 g and measuring 65 mm x 46 mm x 16 mm, was designed in collaboration with Citizen in early 2001.  Running on Linux kernel 2.4, the watch possessed some interesting features like a fingerprint reader, Bluetooth 1.1, radio, microphone for speech to text, and touchscreen; the watch could be used as a pointing device for PowerPoint presentations and could communicate with the ThinkPad to send emails.  Equally interesting, the watch could function as a personal identification device, allowing for automated check-ins at hotels, for instance.   The inclusion of a "vibrator" seems like a personal matter, but I am sure it would have been quite convenient.  Admittedly, some features are quite dated like the serial port,IrDA, and QVGA 320x240 black and white screen.  I have included a video I obtained on the IBM archives and uploaded to YouTube many years ago. 

---

               Unfortunately, despite IBM having a fully functional prototype, the watch never hit market…and we shall never know if all these features in the palm…errr, wrist…of our hand would have appealed to consumers at the anticipated retail price of $399.

                And so, instead of focusing my lust towards a WatchPad, I will continue lusting for  a 1950s Hamilton Electric, which, in my mind, are some of the most beautiful and interesting watches ever designed…even if they can only tell time. 

I find the Hamilton Electrics, the first battery operated watches produced, to be some of the most interesting watches both in mechanics, combining battery power with traditional mechanisms, and Richard Arbib's Space Age design. That is a beautiful Hamilton Pacer!