Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump …
Will your heart beat faster for the Apple Watch after you've previewed its hotness in four "guided tour" videos the company posted on Friday?
Probably. Especially if, like me, you're counting the seconds until April 24, when the high-tech timepiece goes on sale, and you can finally use it to send a pulse signal—that's your heartbeat—to other wearers of the device.
That feature is among many explored in the "Digital Touch" and "Messages" tutorials. "Faces," meanwhile, is all about customizing the home screen. (Add the current temperature or a calendar—go nuts!)
In addition to these clips, each running less than two minutes, there's a nearly five-minute "Welcome" overview. It's chock full of information, including details on how to use various interactions—like swiping up or down on the screen—to access apps and control content. Apple even explains why some technologies that work for its iPhones, such as pinching to zoom, are impractical on a watch display—hence the need for a "digital crown" dial, which you can use to manipulate magnification, among other things. (More Apple Watch videos are on the way. Topics include "Phone Calls," "Maps," "Music" and "Siri.")
Of course, the company discussed a lot of this stuff during its March product announcement, and the watch has been widely profiled in the press, so there are no stunning revelations. Even so, the guided tours concisely cover a great deal of material and serve as both practical how-tos and effective advertising.
In fact, given the nature of the product in question, such detailed demonstrations seem especially on point. The company bills the watch as its "most personal device yet," designed to engage the tactile senses in novel ways and function almost as an extension of our physical selves. That sounds grandiose, but consider: Along with heartbeat messaging, it monitors your pulse rate, "taps" you when messages arrive and springs to life when you raise your wrist (going dark when you reverse the gesture).
That's a fairly high level of casual intimacy—of human/machine rapport. Fittingly, these videos transcend product specs and glossy style pitches to give users a feel for the technology and explain how it can touch their lives.