Episode 07: It’s Okay to Be Apple Watch’s Puppet – Brunch VRESP

There are people who buy gifts for themselves after buying gifts for other people?! Yes, there is. This is none other than my story. When I think back, it was a coincidence that I started owning the Apple Watch, but perhaps it was inevitable that I would become a puppet of the Apple Watch. It has been three years since I became a heavy user, putting aside my excuse that I had no intention of buying it in the first place. Apparently, around the time the Apple Watch was released, it was said that there would be a need to live while knowing the level of oxygen saturation in the blood. (You really don’t know what’s going on in the world.)

Now the Apple Watch is like a tattoo. It’s not a metaphor; it’s true. I especially feel it greatly in the summer. Even when your arms are exposed to the sun and turn black, the skin under the shadow of the Apple Watch remains white. If you have vitiligo and are trying to cover up the remaining watch marks, you will not be able to take off your Apple Watch. They are inseparable. Should we see it as a kind of virtuous cycle? In this way, daily life is constantly monitored scientifically by Apple Watch.

Even at this moment, I am using the Apple Watch.

If you ask me why I bought an Apple Watch, I’ll say it was because I wanted to see numbers. I wanted to know how much I usually move, what my heart rate is, and whether my running pace is improving. True to my wishes, the Apple Watch recorded every moment without fail. It was amazing. The fact that my heart was beating became a new fact.

But at some point, I had a strange feeling. As Apple Watch became a natural thing, strangely enough, I felt like I couldn’t be free from it. I don’t think I own the Apple Watch, but rather the Apple Watch owns this body. The guests were firmly conveyed. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had become a puppet.

What is a puppet? The dictionary definition is ‘a person who plays with manipulation (source: Naver).’ Playing with manipulation… My pride was hurt, but I couldn’t deny it. Because I am truly being manipulated. The way Apple Watch controls me is indirect rather than direct.

How to control Apple Watch 1

first. Apple Watch evaluates me in three aspects. Moving (kcal), exercising (minutes), standing up (times). Of course, the goal is something I set, but whether I complete the circle or not is a sufficient indicator to gauge my daily activity.

How to control Apple Watch 2

second. The Apple Watch also manipulates me through the carrot of a monthly challenge goal achievement badge. The Apple Watch presents its own challenges to me every month. For example, something like ‘Achieve the exercise ring 15 times in a month.’ If you complete this, the difficulty level of next month’s task will be increased, and if not completed, it will be lowered. In order to have a peaceful next month, you need to close your eyes and ignore this month’s assignments, but that is not easy. Because when you complete an assignment, you are given a badge. This badge really has no meaning. Neither rice nor soup is provided. However, because it looks good when you collect it, the desire to collect it becomes like a chimney. So, I try to complete the monthly mission as instructed every month.

How to control Apple Watch 3

third. Apple Watch also gives badges when you achieve monthly missions as well as special limited challenge goals. And this badge is especially pretty, perhaps because it is given only after completing a special mission. So you can’t do it. If you want to dance to get a badge, do it, if you want to do yoga, do it, and if you have to exercise for more than 30 minutes, do it. There is no way to avoid moving your body in various ways to collect badges.

When I found myself dancing around trying to get a badge, I finally realized that I was being controlled by the Apple Watch. When I mentioned this to a friend, he politely suggested that it would be okay to not give any meaning to Apple Watch alarms or badges. So, dreaming of freedom, I went around without my Apple Watch on purpose. However, the Apple Watch was quickly filled as if it had a magnet on the wrist. In this way, my daily life is continuously observed, whether it is lacking or overflowing.

Oh my goodness, I will know when Earth Day, Yoga Day, and Dance Day will be! However, when you play around with the Apple Watch’s cute tricks, you end up using ‘what a day’ as an excuse to run your body for no reason. The same goes for days that are not ‘what and what day’. Try walking a little more and get up.

If you think of living as the sum of the things your body experiences, it’s definitely fun to be able to wiggle around a little more, whether under the control of the Apple Watch or something else. So, except that exercising without the Apple Watch is not exercise(?), isn’t it okay to be a puppet?