[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xjvVbeUn80&channel=grc15r]
If I told you about a touchscreen smartwatch with a crown-driven interface and a UI based on circles (despite the square display) that can allow you to view your contacts, calendars, and more, you’d probably have a pretty good idea what I was referring to: the upcoming Apple Watch.
But actually, you’d be wrong. I’m really referring to the 2001 WatchPad from IBM, seen in the video above. It seems Apple’s latest creation isn’t nearly as original as they’d hoped.
Maybe IBM should take out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal saying “Welcome, Apple. seriously.”
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel
Not much of anything is original in the tech world, no matter what the lemmings on any front would like to believe. It’s all been done, even if it hasn’t all been seen.
Wow this comparison is really lame. But I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less from an Apple-hating site like this.
I’d be willing to bet you’re going to get banned for saying this.
Meanwhile, trolls like herb continue to make coming to this site a painful (and FAR less frequent) endeavor.
This “news” item is one big troll. What is being implied here? That Watch is just a ripoff of an IBM product? That Watch UI sucks because it has some round UI elements on a non-round display? I could see a site like BGR posting it, that wouldn’t be surprising at all. But one should expect more from 9to5Mac.
Plus the Watchpad never made it to market and was shuttered after 3 years. Watch will ship and I have a hunch it will still be here 3 years from now.
@rogifan “what is being implied here?” From the article: “It seems Apple’s latest creation isn’t nearly as original as they’d hoped.” Try some reading comprehension. It’s not as hard as it sounds.
Apple hating?
I’ve never seem a site that was bending over so much for a company.
Rght, Rogi.
Three years from now the Apple watch will be available – half-full at K-Mart!
IBM needs to join the 21st Century. That watch looks like it was designed in the ’70s.
That’s an excellent find Mike Beasley. Plus a very clever way with that old ad. Used in a fun way.
Oh, come on – many interfaces are made with a rotating knob and often also with a circle menu/ display. Who thought Apple invented this lives on a different planet – just have a look at all the car entertainment centers which have been out for years. Success is not defined by the originality of the idea, but the quality and usability of the implementation. Ever was. Ever will be.
funny how all the Apple tarts will jump all over anybody with an interface as ‘copying Apple’, but as soon as you show something like this they ‘freak the fk out’ saying “So WHAT!!, it’s NOTHING”. What a bunch of warts you phags are!!
Funny, funny. This product never made it to market so who cares? Go troll somewhere else. It’s been scientifically shown that people who engage in trolling are characterized by personality traits that fall in the so-called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and deceive others), narcissism (egotism and self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy), and sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others). I hope you get some help, TechPeeve…you probably need it. The fact that you frequent a site of a brand you pose to hate is proof of what I just mentioned.
F-ing funny.
What does mindlessly buying any POS with an Apple logo mean?
Aside from having to continually update your software for the multitude of bug fixes.
Absolutely right.
There had been no acknowledgement that Apple’s “new” features have been around on Samsung products.
Pathetic sheep.
They must’ve done it right with all those millions of Watchpads out there.
Seriously.
They weren’t able to fool people into buying crap like Apple is.
I figured the Apple Watch’s short-glance/long-glance was the company’s original UI contribution to the world, not the crown.
Apple Watch should be awesome.