Who cares if the Apple Watch is useful or if it costs too much? Here’s the real question: does looking at it make you gag?
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Thanks to trypophobia every time I see the apple watch UI I gag a little. :( #sad
— LindaAngela McElravy (@langelah) March 9, 2015 The Daily Dot yesterday pointed to a new brand of Twitter backlash against the Apple Watch. The reason is an internet-famous phobia known as trypophobia. And if you don’t know what it is, a) you may not want to scroll down, and b) Google-image-search “trypophobia” at your own peril. Trypophobia is, literally, the “fear of holes.” The Apple Watch isn’t covered with holes, of course; rather, it’s that big cluster of dots on the face that bothers people.
Sufferers of trypophobia get uncomfortable by clustered, irregularly patterned or shaped holes, like those in lotus seed pods or honeycombs, or patterns of sores on skin. It's not a recognized phobia in the DSM, the manual of mental disorders that psychiatrists use, but according to one recent study, an estimated 16 percent of people suffer from it. One theory is that it's an evolutionary response to the patterns on poisonous animals. Another is that it's just a social-media-fed frenzy.
Does Apple's new watch remind you of something else? #appleWatch #surinamToad #trypophobia http://t.co/JImnOBWG6l pic.twitter.com/k1Zqz4i6tT
— elle (@elcs2va) March 10, 2015 Either way, it appears Apple just can’t learn. Its iPhone 5c cases engendered a similar reaction.
(Apple)
And that means the company will miss out on at least a few customers.
I could never own an Apple watch on account of my trypophobia
— a flogging molly cd (@talbotia) March 9, 2015 i actually think the apple watch is rad but the trypophobia display makes me want to barf and barf oh god.
— Mary H.K. Choi (@choitotheworld) September 11, 2014 [h/t Daily Dot]
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