The Star Trek franchise has done a lot of amazing things for our society by inspiring people to think of ways to advance technology, such as smartphones, tablets, and warp drives. It’s even inspired folk to become astronauts.
But one thing that never popped up on the TV show? Smartwatches. However, at least one developer disregarded this detail and made an Android Wear app featuring the LCARS user interface design from Star Trek Federation computers. (Multiple versions of this app already exist for both iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.)
The app, called Starwatch, is free in the Google Play store. Other than looking kinda geeky, it doesn’t really do much more than show you the time and date. And apparently Starwatch developer Daniele Bonaldo is even working on a version that will fit round-face watches as well.
I’m all for goofy apps the celebrate beloved TV shows, but this one sort of just reinforces my (and others) suspicions that no one outside of Silicon Valley really cares about owning a smartwatch. That said, I also can’t recall any instances where a main character from Star Trek ever tapped a connected smartwatch for any reason.
Now I’m not saying smartwatches will never rise to the level of popularity as other mobile devices, because such predictions are usually foolish in the tech news biz. But I do maintain that no one has created a smartwatch that’s compelling enough to change my mind about owning one, even if you can download geeky/cool apps like Starwatch on them.
[And now, dear readers, I welcome your judgment of just how right or wrong I am in the comment section below.]
