Nearly 64 million American adults are expected to use wearable technologies this year, up from 39.5 million in 2015, according to eMarketer. Yet 2016 research from Colloquy found that 36 percent of American adults believe wearables are simply a passing fad. Here are just some of the reasons why the naysayers are likely to be proven wrong.
Wearables Liberate Users From Their Cell Phones
Psychology Today estimates that 40 percent of the American population is addicted to smartphones. They feel a compulsive urge to frequently check their phones and become anxious if they’re separated from them. Whether smartphone addiction is real or not is hotly debated, but feeling less dependent on these devices can certainly be liberating.
Wearables provide similar information to users as smartphones, such as fitness statistics and the text of new emails. Since wearables are worn on the body, their information is much more accessible than that of smartphones, which are usually stashed in handbags or pockets. With the information they need on hand, people with wearables don’t feel they need to check their smartphones as often.
Wearables Are Improving With New Technology
No technology lasts without continuously improving. Therefore, the evolution of wearables may be one of the strongest indications of their staying power.
Take the Samsung Gear S2 for example, a wearable that Android Authority suggested is “one of the best smartwatches ever.” Unlike the first Gear watch, it’s Wi-Fi enabled. You can also add music directly to the Gear S2 and play it via your Bluetooth headset. Both these features mean you can leave your tethered phone at home and use the Gear S2 on its own. Unlike its predecessors, it’s also compatible with all modern Android phones, not just Samsung ones, giving it a greater potential market. Click here to learn more about the Samsung Gear S2’s cutting-edge technology.
Wearables Give More Valuable Fitness Information Than Smartphones
Wearables have gained favor for their potential as fitness tracking tools. Today, 75 percent of all wearables Americans own are dedicated fitness bands. These tools use inbuilt sensors to count users’ steps, monitor their heart rate, estimate calories burned, and even track sleeping patterns.
However, some skeptics argue that smartphones are just as effective at tracking performance and helping users achieve their fitness goals. It’s true that smartphones can also count steps as wearables can, although their accuracy can vary according to the tightness of your pants and the location of your pockets. It’s also true that you can fool your smartwatch or fitness band into thinking you’ve taken more steps simply by shaking your hand around, but then you’re only cheating yourself.
Where wearables really excel is their ability to accurately estimate the calories you’ve burned by monitoring your heart rate. This is a much more important metric than the number of steps you’ve taken if you hope to lose weight or increase your muscle mass, and one reason wearables will continue to dominate the fitness sector.
Millennials Love Wearable Technology
Marketers know that when you capture the attention of young consumers, they’ll be fans for life. So the way millennials have embraced wearables supports their longevity. The eMarketer report shows that more than three-quarters of wearable users in 2015 were between 18 and 34 years old. Among them are key celebrities like Katy Perry and Britney Spears, who are likely to influence even more young people to adopt the technology.
The majority of millennial users say they’re attracted to wearables for their health and well-being monitoring tools. This suggests that these early adopters will be fit enough to support wearable technology for many years.
Each generation also shares their technology with the next. As millennials have children, they’ll raise a generation of young people who grow up accepting wearables as a way of life rather than a new craze. This product recognition will be an important factor in the continued success of wearable technology.
Some people may believe wearables are a passing fad, but let’s remember that television, social media, and rock and roll music were all once dismissed as fleeting trends too. There’s compelling evidence to suggest that, like these other inventions and phenomena, wearables are here to stay.
