The Very First Smartwatch...!

The first on the scene gets all the attention, right?

Well get this. The very first Smartwatch was made in 1977! That's right...back in the dark ages!

Smartwatches-hp-01

Photo credit: Stahlkocher

The world’s first smartwatch was the HP-01. It was made by Hewlett-Packard in 1977, 17 years before the world’s first smartphone. Unlike the smartwatches of today, the HP-01 could not make phone calls, send messages, or connect to the Internet.

Instead, it had a timer, stopwatch, calendar, reminder, alarm clock, calculator, and daily planner. It also lacked a touch screen, and users could only interact with it using its 28 buttons. But the buttons were so small that they could only be clicked with a stylus.

The HP-01 was waterproof and powered by three batteries, six chips, and about 38,000 resistors, which was impressive for a time when computers only had two kilobytes of RAM. Two years after its introduction, the HP-01 went out of production due to poor sales. Its premium price—$650 for its stainless steel version and $750 for its gold-coated version—made it too expensive for many consumers.

Can you see the silliness that we get caught up in? There will always be a bigger and better "something" that demands our temporary attention. The secret is to not fall for it!

Coffee out on the cold patio this morning. Are ta up for it?