Space Invaders and the not-so-smart watch

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Sometimes, technology can offer us too much.

Smartphones deliver cameras, games, music, video, communication, tracking, sorting, work, play, and, yes, phone calls, all in one sleek package that can slip into your pocket.

Almost the same could be said of the smartwatch. They have become an essentially shrunken-down version of the smartphone. They forever tether us—for better or worse—to this technological age of constant information, alerts, tracking, and, yes, phone calls.

But as processing power continues to grow (in power) and shrink (in size), some desire to limit how much and how often they immerse themselves in the digital everything.

The evolution of tech will never stop, but that doesn’t mean we have to embrace its everything, all at once, in every device we own.

Enter the rise of Selective Tech, devices created to give you just a taste of technology, often in a retro, playful, or intriguing package; always carefully designed around pin-point themes and ideas.

Developer Panic’s crankable, black-and-white, 1-bit display Playdate handheld console is a great example of this. It’s tech designed around self-conceived restraints in a way that is meant to empower rather than limit creativity.

It doesn’t try to be cutting-edge, in fact, it aggressively avoids that path.

The people at Floor 84 Studio seem to be taking a similar approach with the introduction of their first entry in the My Play Watch line of products: A not-so-smartwatch that taps deeply into the nostalgia of Space Invaders.

Read the full column on Game, my free monthly column, right here.