iWatch

Here's a riddle: what is something that is everywhere and nowhere at the same time? If you answered smartwatches, the supposed up-and-coming wrist-sized computers designed to accentuate a demanding lifestyle, you'd be perfectly correct.

For those avid television watchers, it's nearly impossible to escape an ad these days for Samsung's latest Galaxy Gear, the Korean company's first attempt at a smartwatch. It looks attractive enough: you can answer calls on it, check a text message, or set an alarm reminder. Yet, despite this, no one seems to have one.

Smartwatches are a tough sell mainly because the technology doesn't really compliment the smartphone era we now live in. Consider this: student's in class, and their smartphone buzzes because they've received a message. They could take their smartphone out of their pocket to check, or just glance at their smartwatch. However, after glancing at the smartwatch, they realize they would like to respond to the text, and they pull out the smartphone anyway. At that point it would seem the smartwatch was a little useless. Maybe they want to walk around talking at their wrist while conversing with a friend or loved one, but that just seems more difficult than anything. As of now, there is little reason to retire the smartphone.

Apple hopes to change that mentality, however, with it's much rumored 'iWatch'. This is a term Apple faithfuls have been toting for many years, and many believe the public will finally see the fabled wearable at some point in 2014, alongside the iPhone 6.

As of now, many industry analysts are saying that the watch will feature a curved display that wraps around your wrist, and exclusive syncing with the next iPhone. Some key features for what Apple has cooked up is a focus on health, with the watch being able to calculate heart rate, track the distance walked in a day, analyze sleep, and present this all neatly in a graph on the smartphone.

"I'd like to wait for the technology to go through a few generations before I consider buying one. It's only a matter of time before they really work well with smartphones," said an anynmous Plymouth student.

"Although the technology exists for smartwatches to become as widespread as smartphones, the application and software leaves much to be desired," said Joshua Betit, a senior.

The percentage of American's wearing watches is slimming greatly as smartphones continue to dominate. At least 60% of 16 to 34 year olds use their smartphone as their primary timepiece, leaving little room for the age-old watch. As such, the market for smartwatches just isn't there. With many American's wearing watches simply as a fashion statement, there is little reason to buy an Apple branded watch over luxury brands, or an affordable option like Timex.

It remains to be seen whether smartwatches will take off with consumers, but if any company has a shot of doing so, it's probably Apple and friends.