Just a Head Fake?

Om Malik:

We have been privately musing that Apple’s iWatch might just be a head fake, a way to throw off the rivals (and even insiders at the company) and send them on a wild goose chase.

How great would this be?

Update: Although I’m not sure what the point of fooling “insiders” would be. If this watch thing is a head fake, it’s meant only to misdirect competitors.

The more likely scenario, of course, is that Apple is working on a watch or watch-like device. But some combination of Samsung, Google, Microsoft, and others will rush their smart watches to market first. Then, if Apple ships theirs (a big if — Apple scraps more projects than it ships), it will look and work like no other. Then, mysteriously, the next round of watches from all the other companies will somehow wind up looking like slightly clunkier versions of Apple’s. (Remember the “slates” Microsoft heralded at CES 2010?)

★ Tuesday, 26 March 2013