What will make the smartwatch take off is probably not fully understood yet. I have my own theory (below), but first an analogy.<p>When Steve Jobs announced the iPhone, he first teased that he was releasing 3 devices:<p>- A widescreen iPod with touch controls (huge applause)<p>- A revolutionary mobile phone (HUGE raucous applause)<p>- A breakthrough Internet communications device (tepid, confused applause)<p>But what drives iPhone growth and usage today? It&#x27;s the third one, BY FAR. Heck the whole concept of &quot;an iPod&quot; has been taken over by streaming music services, which fit firmly into bucket #3.<p>So it&#x27;s possible--I would say likely--that the true value of a smartwatch is not yet fully understood by us today.<p>Based on where Apple is teasing their efforts, I would guess it&#x27;s some combination of:<p>- Personal health monitoring, and eventual connection to your doctors and specialists and researchers.<p>- Authentication, configuration, and activation of ambient computing. Basically--the key and control panel to everything around you. You get in a car and it sets the seat, drive controls, thermostat, etc. to your preferences--which are stored in your smartwatch. Same thing at home. You sit down at your computer and it unlocks and decrypts. You tap your watch on a register to pay. You tap your watch on the subway gate to get on. Etc.