I’ve made no secret about how excited I am about the launch of Apple Watch. It is going to be big.

I mean, look at it. Pure tech porn.

The only difficulty I have right now is deciding whether to go for the Apple Watch or the Apple Watch Sport (neither I, not my bank account, will be able to handle the Apple Watch Edition).

It’s been interesting to follow some of the reporting since the recent Apple keynote where dates and prices were officially announced.

Buzzfeed posted a typically Buzzfeed-ish ‘on-wrist’ review of the event and come to a few interesting conclusions. The Apple Watch will ‘change the game of messaging’ – and all that while feeling just like a watch, not really there until you need it. As with most tech, the proof of how useful (or not) it is will become clear how average people use it.

For example, Apple Watch’s built-in messaging system that allows one Apple Watch user to send taps to another Apple Watch user. One of the Buzzfeeders suggests using a double tap as a subtle message to a girlfriend to come over when the a guy is bugging her – girl code taken to the next level.

Stuff has an excellent and in-depth on-wrist review of Apple Watch: the Apple Watch may well be the device that brings the smartwatch to the masses and gets the wearable revolution revolving.

A lot of brands are already on board with their apps, something that Apple has been very open about. After all, what use is a bit of tech like this watch if you can’t do anything with it. No surprise, for me it’s my social run tracking app of choice, Strava.

A piece on Techcrunch really got my attention though. Here’s why:

People that have worn the Watch say that they take their phones out of their pockets far, far less than they used to. A simple tap to reply or glance on the wrist or dictation is a massively different interaction model than pulling out an iPhone, unlocking it and being pulled into its merciless vortex of attention suck.

One user told me that they nearly “stopped” using their phone during the day; they used to have it out and now they don’t, period. That’s insane when you think about how much the blue glow of smartphone screens has dominated our social interactions over the past decade.

The piece goes on to argue that even Apple have had trouble articulating the actual selling point of the Apple Watch. While they’ve focused on the watch-to-watch messaging where you can draw pretty pictures and send each other your heart-beat, or track all your sporty activities (well, except for swimming) – the key USP that seems to come through to those wearing it is that Apple Watch frees you up to go on with your life.

It’s not just that it’s a “notification center”; it’s that it allows you to act without any additional distraction.

Doesn’t that sound brilliant?

What do you think? Will Apple Watch and wearables in general change the way we talk to each other? Will they actually give us back the most valuable resource of all, time?

PR 3.0 – statement gif

We might not agree on how to say it, but we all love an animated gif.

They’re increasingly used to convey emotions, Buzzfeed would be up shit creek without them, and the Internet would be a much less fun place.

But now, the humble gif has reached new level.

It’s been used as a reactive statement by Google’s press office to a question from tech site Daily Dot.

This is the historic gif used by Google as an official answer to a question about a new YouTube livestreaming plan.

Here’s the Daily Dot piece, their brilliant edit at the end goes to show that it might be a while until an animated gif becomes as standard a response as ‘no comment’.

A YouTube rep originally replied to the Daily Dot’s request for comment on this story with an animated GIF. We assumed it was a joke. Earlier today, the rep assured us it was not. “The GIF really was our official response,” he wrote. Here it is.

Live streaming is the new black

You’ll have heard two words over the last few weeks. The first is Meerkat – and the second, more recently – Persicope. Both are live-streaming apps, where you can stream whatever you can capture through your phone’s camera to whomever follows you.

The Beeb has a great side by side comparison of the two new services.

I’ll be honest, I’ve not broadcasted anything yet. I’ve tried to tune in to some streams but was either too slow (the stream had already ended by the time I’d seen a link to it), or it just never loaded. Both times I was without a wifi connection, I suspect a decent Internet connection will make things better.

Bits and bytes

Videos of the week

The always lovely and sensible @Domburch spoke to The Drum about how Asda go about how best to scale brand presence and engagement through social media

A thought provoking short film by @tiffanyshlain based on the saying that the 5 people you hang around with most shape who you are – and how that idea applies to your presence on social media. The people, brands and media outlets you follow shape who you are, and everything you post shapes others. So how do we flourish and grow in our hyper-connected world?

A few silent men.

And finally

Sans Bullshit Sans

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