Early Apple Designer Explains The Only Way The iWatch Will Work

Early Apple designer Hartmut Esslinger is pretty skeptical when it comes to smartwatches. He doesn't yet see a real purpose for them, and he believes that Apple will need to address that before unveiling its own iWatch.

In a recent interview with Business Insider, Esslinger said, "When Apple eventually launches the long-awaited iWatch, it has to top the iPhone in function, design, and prestige - anything else would be completely illogical."

Apple is reportedly unveiling the iWatch in the fall, and everyone is waiting with bated breath to see if they are going to be ones to make the smartwatch market really take off.

There are a bunch of smartwatches out now - Google's Android Wear and Pebble to name a few - but in reality, the general consumer is not rushing out to buy a smartwatch. They have yet to really define a purpose. They basically act as an extension of your smartphone, and honestly, it's not that strenuous to grab your phone from your pocket.

Esslinger, for one, is definitely not impressed with the current smartwatches.

"The current smartwatches are a misunderstood issue because I don't think there's a real need for another device to access a smartphone already in the hand or in the pocket of the user," he said. "It makes sense to make technology more wearable, but it must be a complete device."

Esslinger also thinks its ridiculous to assume that consumers will replace beautiful, luxury watches with clunky, plastic computers. That's why Apple is hiring executives from Swiss luxury watchmakers, he says. A smartwatch will need to be both attractive and useful to take off.

And so we wait to see if Apple can tackle the challenge and give us a reason to go out and buy a smartwatch.