Disadvantages of wearable computers

The major disadvantages for wearable computers come from cost and implementation. These types of computers will be very costly for organizations to implement. There will no shortage of uses for wearable computer technology however companies will have to be very prudent about which aspects of the organization will benefit the most at the least cost. The increased efficiency gained from the use of wearable computers may not be financially feasible considering the cost of changing over technology (Jessup, Valacich and Wade 2008).

The second major disadvantage stems from the implementation and associated costs. Implementing new technology is usually expensive and this particular type of technology requires suitable support systems as well. Hardware, software and training costs are likely to be high but these costs pale in comparison to the potentially infinite costs of researching to find out the best use of wearable computers and the training of employees to use the wearable technology most efficiently. Failed IT solutions can have expensive results.

In the financial industry where blackberries and laptops are essential, a wearable computer would be cumbersome and awkward for an executives. Also wearable computers would not be useful for managers who work in offices, since the best advantage of the wearable computer is its mobility (Cook 2006) Wearable computers would also not be suitable in industries that require a lot of data mining and use databases which require large amounts of memory. The use of wearable computers may improve the efficiency of some industries however others would be at a disadvantage with the use of wearable computers. It can be said that wearable computers have been slowly adapted in the business world, since they have existed since 1981 (Rhodes 1997).