Fifteen

Issue date: 12/5/06 Section: Student Life

Did you ever wonder why the calculator watch went out of style? Maybe you were sitting in finance thinking, "gee, if I only had a calculator watch I could answer that NPV question." Although the calculator watch has gone the way of the Dodo bird, Microsoft has come to the rescue of geeks everywhere with their SPOT watch technology.

Last week members of the Innovation Club were given the opportunity to test the Suunto n3i SPOT watch through the Tech Testbed program. The Tech Testbed program is a collaboration between the Innovation Club and leading product companies. Typically companies provide the club with product trials for a year or longer, and the club members provide feedback on usability and possible marketing strategies.

I eagerly picked up my watch from Maria Runarsdottir '08, the testbed organizer. Within moments of arriving in class my fellow Sloanies began commenting on my new watch. "How can I get such a large, sexy watch?" "Do Innovation Club members get other free toys?" "That thing is huge!" Clearly, when it comes to watches, size does matter.

There is no doubt that the Suunto n3i is rather large, but it attempts to mask this fact with the stylish leather band and customizable digital faces. In general, Suunto has targeted its SPOT watches towards athletic, outdoorsy buyers. Other manufactures such as Tissot, Swatch, and Fossil have launched more fashionable SPOT watches.

SPOT, or Smart Personal Objects Technology, watches were first released in early 2003. These watches offer automatic time adjustment, customizable faces, news, weather, traffic, stock quotes, sports scores, instant messaging, Outlook synchronization, and other advanced features. The information is continually updated through low-power FM frequencies and requires a subscription to MSN Direct services.

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about the usefulness of the SPOT watches. However, after using the watch for a week I have been extremely pleased. Most importantly I am able to have my Outlook calendar on my watch so I don't have to worry about remembering the location of my next meeting.

The weather feature shows the current temperature as well as the three day forecast. In addition, it can be set to send weather information for multiple locations. Over the Thanksgiving break it showed the Baltimore weather for the three days I was there and then switched back to Boston weather when I returned home.

To select participants for the program a survey was sent to all Innovation Club members. Thirty members were chosen to try the watches based on the user profile requested by Microsoft. Participants were given a free year of MSN Direct services and also get to keep the watch after the testbed is over.

The Tech Testbed program is open to all Innovation club members. Members who organize a testbed are guaranteed the opportunity to use the product. Currently, testbeds are in the works for digital cameras, smart phones, and MP3 players.

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