Each time Apple unveils a gadget, people flip out: grown men cry, old devices are ritualistically sacrificed. We know commercial real estate folks love their gadgets, but will wearable tech—like the new Apple Watch—blossom in our industry?
Transwestern president of the Americas Chip Clarke, who's in Houston, plans to buy an Apple Watch (which will start at $349). He says Transwestern has a high percentage of early adopters to technology—he's actually wearing another smart watch above—and feels any product that makes the industry better at communicating, analyzing, and transacting more efficiently is valuable.
Hold your horses, says JLL SVP Greg Matter, who's in Silicon Valley and co-heads the firm's national tech industry group. He says Google Glass (now available to all consumers, starting at $1,500) will be handy for taking building photos, visualizing potential fit outs, seeing floor plans, or watching streamed videos from a flying drone (that technology is available now, in fact). But for now, wearable tech is more focused on personal consumers. He's sticking with a tablet in the office, though Greg tells us he'll buy an Apple Watch for fitness/biometric screening. (Smart move. You ever try strapping an iPad to your wrist as you run?)
Everyone knows the real question for real estate pros isn't if you should buy one. It's "Anyone have a charger? My phone died while making cold calls on the ride over here." Well, wireless charging is also gaining popularity. Starbucks is rolling out the technology, starting in San Francisco. (Place your compatible devices on designated tables and counters, and voilà, they start charging.) QiStone+ and other personal external battery packs allow you to wirelessly charge your devices, including the Apple Watch, wherever you are.
Greg says it'll take more to get people off their phones. Wearable tech is still mostly limited to text messages, phone calls, and biometric screening. Also "a tablet is probably more efficient for a real estate pro because it's not device dependent" (i.e., you don’t need your phone for Internet connection). "When wearables become more of a pure standalone device, then it will be more impactful." Are you going to jump on the wearable tech bandwagon? Tell us your thoughts in our poll above.
