My first watch was an old one from my father when I was in junior high school. Since then, I simply replaced one with another after it died. For several years, I had only one watch at any given time. In my mind, a watch is just something to tell time, and one is sufficient.
With the advancement of technology, in addition to telling time, watches also display the date and other functions. Some even display essential data for divers and pilots. After the invention of the digital watch, other functions such as a calculator, different time zones, alarms, etc. were added. In recent years, a watch acts almost like a micro-computer. You can use it to connect to the internet for communications and file transfer. You can monitor all sorts of health data such as your pulse and blood pressure with it. Nowadays it is not unusual for someone in the metropolitan area to own a few watches based on different needs. When regarded as an accessory, people even keep buying more to match them with their outfits.
Once some advertisements emphasize that watches are a symbol of status. Look at a watch certain people wear, and you can tell they must come from a high social class. Later, fake watches to those famous name brands were produced, and the association between watches and wealth became less meaningful. To judge people by what kind of watch they wear is no longer valid.
In this postmodern world, wearing a device with the most advanced technology or an expensive one on your wrist does not indicate fashion. It’s easy to simply make a personal choice rather than to attach any meaning to a watch. Fashion can be regional as defined by various cultures. In many parts of the world, people don’t need to coordinate with others and there’s no need to be punctual, a watch is not a necessity.
The main purpose of using a device is to get needed information at your convenience. We must first understand what our needs are, then choose the right equipment. A device may have hundreds of functions, but if all I need is to tell time, it becomes a waste.
If we can’t set priorities but blindly collect all kinds of information, we only make life more complicated. Might as well just look at the old watch and see if it’s time for the next appointment.
Pastor Ken, 2022
