There's no stopping wearable technology. Every major tech company has made strides into the nascent field of strapping gadgets to our bodies, and although there have been stumbles (a certain head-mounted display comes to mind), the benefits are real, and the tech is improving every day.

So everyone should rush out to buy an Apple Watch, right? Not so fast. Apple's new toy may be the best smartwatch on the market, but it's also one of the most expensive. As with every gadget purchase, you have to weigh cost versus benefit, and in the case of the Apple Watch, it doesn't add up.

Consider what the benefits of wearable tech — in this case, a smartwatch — really are: The primary use of an interactive, wrist-mounted display is to feed you notifications on a screen that can be brought into view quickly and easily. Texts, emails, tweets and even calls can be immediately seen and acted upon.

Um...woo?

To do the same thing on your smartphone, you'd need to pull it out of your pocket first. This is a tangible benefit, but not a large one. As far as notifications are concerned, all the watch is doing is bringing them to your attention with more immediate clarity and freeing up one of your hands. Is that worth $349, the starting price for the Apple Watch?