Why are people so personally offended by the Apple Watch?

IT LOOKS a bit weird. It comes with a long list of crazy features. But the most ridiculous thing about the Apple Watch has a lot more to do with us. That’s right, us. The would-be customers.

“IT’S pointless!”

“How dare Apple think they can control my fashion choices!”

“Greedy bastards, how dare they try to send watchmakers broke.”

Apple released the details for its latest product, the Apple Watch yesterday. Immediately the attacks began, and some of them were pretty offensive.

My simple question is this. If something doesn’t affect you in any way, why get so worked up about it?

Those hot-headed takes on the Apple Watch are mostly from people who feel they are at least somewhat tech savvy. That they’re up with the kids or whatever people who aren’t up with the kids say.

Which is odd, when you consider they didn’t get angry at the dozens of smartwatches released before Apple was even rumoured to enter the market. Smartwatches have actually been around for a few years now. Samsung, Sony and LG all have had several models out. Some tech products, some fashion products.

But that hasn’t stopped people from getting riled up about a company releasing a product late to the category which no one is forcing them to buy.

If you’re angry about this, you’ve run out of things to be angry at.

Sometimes I can be that annoying guy on the train. You know, the guy who tries to talk to you when you just want to play Candy Crush or read 50 Shades of Grey in silence.

Just yesterday I was that guy. As a technology journalist I was more than keen to find out what the general public thought of Apple’s new product, so I asked the man next to me. He was a slightly older gentleman, perhaps in his early 50s. He told me he had read about it on the internet earlier that morning. He then proceeded to show me a lovely Casio he was wearing. All of a sudden he lost it, his voice started to rise and his face turned all red and crinkly.

“Tell Apple they can go stuff it if they think they can shove something on my wrist,” he hissed.

Luckily I had to get off at the next stop so I didn’t have to worry about the bloke I had just turned into the Hulk. Sulk, more like it.

But this was a man who got genuinely furious about a gadget. A gadget he doesn’t have to buy.

It didn’t take long to find more people on the internet writing about the Apple Watch with equally angry tones. Celebrities, general internet users and journalists have all moaned about Apple releasing a product they don’t have to buy.

We should be thanking Apple for launching the $10,000 "apple watch" as the new gold standard in douchebag detection.

— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) March 9, 2015

Russell Brand even took the time to make this ten minute video as to why people shouldn’t ever buy the Apple Watch. Ever. Ever. Ever.

He had some good general points around big companies and privacy. But his points about the Apple Watch barely strayed into that territory. So why pick on the watch?

News.com.au’s extremely excellent Melissa Hoyer felt like she had some problems with Apple’s Watch, too. Her arguments revolved around keeping our wrists device-free, and picking a watch to express individualism.

Sorry Mel, but both the Apple Watch and other devices give us more options than ever to be individual. Bands and watch faces can be swapped around like never before. In fact, individuality is a strong selling point for both Apple and Google’s watches.

Hannah Jane Parkinson went as far as publishing an article on The Guardian with the headline “Nine reasons only a tool would buy the Apple Watch”.

Ms Parkinson even labelled any adult who orders a Mickey Mouse Apple Watch as a tool. If she understood the watch, she would know that it is just a customisation, not a specific Apple Watch model.

And right there, is why people are getting offended. Because they don’t understand it.

If you’re offended by the price of the gold Apple Watch, then it was never meant for you. Stop stressing.

Technology progresses over time, whether you understand it and want to use it or not. Imagine if we were satisfied with getting around on horses and steam trains? What if rotary dial phones was where phone evolution ended?

If you want a more recent Apple-specific example of a new category-changing product that offended the same crowd, look no further than the original MacBook Air. It was crazy expensive, didn’t have a disk drive and had less storage than laptops half its price.

Yet today it is one of the best and most sold laptops in the world.

The smartwatch is just an evolution of a product we have been using for centuries. About time it got an upgrade. Not just for the ability to order an Uber or pay for your coffee from your wrist, either.

Combine watches with software kits like Apple’s new ResearchKit and you suddenly a way to monitor someone’s health like never before. Smartwatches are just one way that consumer technology can help those with chronic illnesses.

Whether your problem is the price, its function or Apple’s newfound place in fashion, you have no reason to be offended. In fact, I’ll go further. You have no RIGHT to be offended.

No one is forcing you to buy anything. Not one single person. So stop being a Luddite and accept that technology is an ever-evolving beast that changes the world every day.