In today's fast-paced world, people rely
An ad for the Apple Watch makes it clear that the technology is designed to help you do more. Set to a catchy Nina Simone song with the recurring lyric “power!”, we see a hurried montage of various athletes, all obsessed with maximizing their own achievements.
There is one exception: A woman, floating in a swim ring atop the clear, tranquil water of an infinity pool. She is allowed precisely four seconds to relax. Then she's immediately jolted back into action after receiving an Apple Watch notification informing her that she's late. In this commercial, as the athletes perform, they refer to their watches for heart rates, distances, activity levels, and even guidance on how to inhale and exhale. The message is clear: Technology reimagines and reengineers your life so that you can be better, stronger, faster.
Ads like this are barely distinguishable from the intro to “The Six Million Dollar Man.” When new gadgetry is introduced to the market, corporations try to sell the world on a vision for the future in which people's lives have been embellished by unforeseen functionality and game-changing innovation. But what about all of the existing technology that could simply work better? What productivity gains could occur by retooling old things, like an OS, software, or your digital work habits?
