Tuesday, March 10, 2015

If there is a bubble in tech - it's in wearables.



I was somewhat excited to go to my wearables conference today because I wanted to see what the rest of the pack had to say after the Apple event.

Well - I'm here to tell you that this is not a sector. I leave every single one of these conferences feeling like I've wasted my time. Not to mention, they are barely conferences at all. As I was leaving I overheard one of the guys say "is this the whole demo hall"? To which I laughed to myself and said - exactly. I mean, I've been to a dozen of these things now over the past year, and I see zero progress honestly. It feels a lot like when I was writing about robots. Wearables are a solution in search of a problem.

Well.... they did add waterproof. Which I guess is kinda a feature? I mean it's nice to have. But it not new! For a solid three years, CES was filled with nothing but booths featuring waterproof devices. It really became super annoying. I wrote about it here. I mean - how many ways can you display that you can take your tablet in the tub now?





2 comments:

  1. I agree, just a fad. Who needs a watch when you carry a cell? Less jewelry and more 3d printing. We visited a printing shop this week for a funky joystick handle and they were running all of their machines at full speed. I think that it will be a significant growth industry and qualifies as its own category Even though monetization is still figure things out. DF

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  2. The monetization will come in. I've grown to understand these technologies have a much longer growth horizon than I used to think. It's taken 30 years for 3D printing to get this far. It was originally conceived by Chuck Hull in the 80's who worked at a company that used UV light to put thin layers of plastic veneers on tabletops and furniture. Which makes me love it more. One day this tech will save lives. Already they are 3D printing heart valves. It will definitely be it's own sector. I can't wait to see what happens when these get into houses and curious children start creating things. Who knows what the future will look like. I haven't written about it lately because right now 3D printed selfie figurines seem to be the rage. It is impressive - if you are into that kind of thing.

    I think *one day* wearables will be a sector. Graphine could change the whole trajectory when they figure that out more. Hell not too long ago I saw they were making 3d printers that printed with graphine!

    P.S. I really enjoy that you stuck it out. You are scrappy.

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