Interesting Move…

02008-10-03 | Design | 0 comments

The mobile phone is very disruptive technology. It replaces so many things, like alarm clocks, timers, watches, notepads, address-books, even cameras.

I find it interesting that TAG Heuer, makers of timepieces for 148 years, decided to make a mobile phone:
TAG Heuer : MERIDIIST – Time in your hand

Sure, it’s beautifully crafted using steel, crystal-glass and leather, but why would one spend almost $5,000 on a phone with a tiny screen when one can get the new Nokia 96 for under $900 and an iPhone for $199? I mean, Nokia tried this with the Vertu brand, but I personally find those dead-ugly and waaaay over-priced. A Vertu screams that the buyer is a moron with no sense of design and too much disposable cash. Well, the TAG-Heuer phone looks a lot nicer than a Vertu, and a battery that can supposedly last for 28 days between charges is very nice indeed, but still…

How can a $5,000 mobile phone, with its (mass-produced) electronic guts, appear to be as valuable as a $5,000 automatic watch, with its mechanical inside? A watch does one thing well, it tells the time, whereas I would find it difficult at this point in time to carry a device that is only a mobile phone – what, no web browser, email, New York Times app, e-reader, file storage etc… I think I actually use the other functionalities (email, SMS, web) of a mobile more than I talk on it.

And yes, I still wear a mechanical watch and wind my grandfather’s pocket-watch twice a day.

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