This Apple Watch Feature Will Be Hailed in a Couple of Years
Lately I have gotten weird looks from co-workers and people around me when answering my phone. It wasn't until someone asked me how I knew the phone was ringing without looking at it that I realized why. Ever since I got the Apple Watch I have had not only the sound but also the vibration turned off on my iPhone. Since I get a noticeable tap on my wrist whenever someone calls me, even when the watch is muted, I never miss a call even if I don't have the phone on me; usually it lies on the desk next to my laptop, face down.
We as a society have gotten so used to getting a forewarning whenever someone's phone is ringing -- be it from a noisy ringtone, an annoying buzzing sound or a distracting flash -- that being robbed of those signals have elicited the same reactions as when we saw people seemingly talking to themselves the first time mobile phones became a thing.
The feature I am talking about, obviously, is the Taptic Engine that provides haptic feedback when an alert or a notification is received on the watch. We may not think much of it today but it will be a godsend to the workplace as more people adapt smartwatches and other wearables. Just imagine sitting in an open-plan workspace or a meeting room without being distracted by someone's phone. How many times hasn’t a meeting been interrupted by a buzzing phone or, even worse, colleagues making excuses for forgetting to put their devices in silence mode? I am truly looking forward to the day when someone can easily sneak out of a meeting to answer a call without having the whole room holding their collective breath until the door closes.
Say what you want about the limitations of the smartwatches of today, but one feature I am hoping will be even more prominent in the not-too-distant future is connected devices that don't need to make any fuss whenever calling for their owners' attention. I for one welcome the imminent death of the ringtone as it would inevitably be one of the few times a new technology leads to a quieter workplace!
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