Apple is announcing what it call’s its Spring Forward event.  The event will unveil the company’s new watch and may include the announcement of a smaller tablet computer. The invitation-only event being held in San Francisco begins at 1pm EDT March 9th, 2015.

The event could (or might not) mark the beginning of the mainstream use of “wearable technology.” Google tried Google Glass but the idea of a big clunky glasses died for lack of interest.  Could this watch do for the MP3 player what the iPod did? Could it be to personal computing what the iPad tablet has become?

For educators, the key questions that may arise from this announcement will include whether this new device will be popular enough, over time, to change the way journalists tell stories, as the mobile phone and tablets have. How long might it take for a new device to find mainstream status? What would the price of such a device have to be to become popular enough to spread everywhere?

 

Click Here to see minute-by-minute coverage of the announcement. 

 

Would you be impressed enough with a watch that can open a hotel door, show you a map, monitor your heart rate and store music to pay hundreds, even thousands for it? The new watch is NOT a phone.

Background:
Apple has “studied platinum watch casings” according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal.
When the watch was announced as a concept  Apple said it would be the most personal digital device ever created.

The promise was that the Apple Watch would be like having a personalized computer system on your wrist. The early reporting said,

“Three collections will be made available: an Apple Watch with a stainless steel case and sapphire crystal display, the Apple Watch Sport in an aluminum case with a selection of sportier straps, and the luxury Apple Watch Edition that comes in an 18-carat gold case and also features a sapphire display. The starting price for the Apple Watch will be $349 when it goes on sale early in 2015.”

A Timeline of Apple product rollouts:

 

The dream of an Apple Watch began more than a decade ago. See the evolution of the idea into a real product.