Who needs a watch with numbers on it anyway? I mean, OMG that’s so analogue.

Credit must be given to popgadget, for this blog post about Tokyoflash, a company making watches that are more artistic in nature and less function oriented. Well, not so much less function oriented, but more function for a specific audience.

I’m thinking of this in terms of technological literacy. I, personally, have a tough time reading the ye-olde circular clock with hour, minute, and second hands. (I always miss by about an hour; and, really, should anything have 3 hands?). And, I don’t even wear a watch–it’s the digital readout on my cell phone for me. The thing is, I can read the LED readouts on these watches. Is this a generational thing? Since I’ve grown up around more microchips than gears, is this merely a comfort level?

Or would this be an interest thing? Will only the geeky people be willing to wear something like this? It’d either be really cool or really dorky (ie the calculator watch. Nerdville for sure. It just screams Dungeons & Dragons and living in your parents’ basement at 35). And then who would teach the non-techno forward people this kinda gear and would they really care to learn? Are these the watches of the future? Would we all need to learn how to read these specific displays? Mmm, probably not, but who knows, it could happen.

I’m just curious about how my mother would handle something like this. Well, I suppose I don’t have to wonder; she wouldn’t handle it very well. She’d take one look at it and say that the lights are pretty, but it’s a bracelet–not a watch. So, now that brings in the artistic side of things, doesn’t it. It’s visually pleasing–to me, at least–but I’m all about the modern avant-garde mish-mash. I do like the way this brings function into beauty though. It serves a purpose while being a vehicle for visual expression and design. I could live in a future like that. A future that compresses the usefulness of something with artistic vision and, honestly, if I had $200 to drop on a watch, I’d go for one of these.