The wristwatch is the bellwether for personal electronics: the laptop, PDA, cell phone, DVD player, maybe even the camcorder and still camera. The wristwatch went from clock to pocket watch to wristwatch, improving its functionality all the time, yet becoming smaller and less expensive. It is now sold practically everywhere, from jewelry stores to clothing stores, even drug stores. The wristwatch is a commodity item, differentiated more by fashion than function, and I think all personal electronics will follow the same path, ending as a commodity item differentiated by fashion.
What does this mean for marketing PDAs and cell phones? As they become smaller, they become more wearable. Just as the clock made a transition from pocket watch to wristwatch, other electronics will make the transition to a wearable device. Some devices will be built into clothing and some will be built into clothing accessories like shoes, belts, rings and eye wear, provided the base functionality is maintained.
If I were making shoes, I would be thinking about how to build electronics technology into the shoes, and if I were building electronics, I would be thinking about whether I could build my product in a shoe or belt. So why not build the eye wear with electronics and optics built in?
Such electronic eye wear will provide the audio and visual output for future devices that people will wear. Eventually, personal devices will interconnect through some type of personal-area network. Marketing of personal electronic devices will become similar to that of clothing. "Excuse me, I am looking for a size 9 MP3 player." I expect to hear that line in the not-too-distant future.
Mark B. Spitzer is chief executive officer at MicroOptical Corp. (Westwood, Mass.).
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