Watch This

Via GeekWire: Microsoft kills the final remnants of their smart watches from 2004-2008.

Via Time: Apple could disrupt the watch industry with the iPod nano (it is the third of the four industries).

It fascinates me that Microsoft couldn't get the concept of smart watches to take off, but Apple sort of accidentally created a popular smart watch with the latest iPod nano. The difference? I suspect that it has to do with direction. No one who wears a watch thinks it will ever be the right tool for reading news headlines. That's the wrong direction. However, people who carry an iPod might jump at the chance to have it be small enough to strap on their wrist. That's the right direction.

You might also call this convergence. Tacking new functionality onto a watch? Not great. Combining the watch and iPod you are already carrying into one device? That's better.