And it tracked fitness metrics-steps taken, distance traveled, and (estimated) calories burned. Nor was it worn on the wrist it clipped to a pocket or waistband. The Fitbit, when it was introduced in 2009, had a rudimentary LED screen capable of displaying only numbers. The first computer-powered wearable to achieve huge, breakout success proved most futurists almost completely wrong regarding form, features, and function. Among the companies that tried and failed early on were Casio, Epson, Sony, IBM, and Microsoft. But for decades the computer watch remained stubbornly unpopular. So manufacturers tried it, with some limited commercial success starting in the late 1970s.Īs time and technology progressed, the engineering work naturally moved on from calculators to computers you could wear on your wrist. Combining the two seemed like a good idea, at least to some people. Then, in the 1970s, electronic wristwatches took the market by storm, around the same time that handheld calculators were also becoming popular. During the heyday of vacuum electronics, the Dick Tracy comic strip in the United States envisioned wrist-worn radios and televisions, examples of what we’d call “wearables” today. As early as the 1940s, people became enchanted with the idea of electronic devices so small you could wear them like a wristwatch.
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