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President Barack Obama is swapping his Jorg Gray 6500 watch for a smartwatch, rumored to be the $250 Fitbit Surge. New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman analyzes why Obama's into wearables all of the sudden, and why even the leader of the free world looks kind of dorky sporting such an item ("it’s hard to see the pictures...and think that the chunky plastic band on his wrist is elegant").
She writes: "Certainly, it’s a useful thing for a world leader to be able to communicate his dedication to working out (especially one whose wife has a campaign called "Let’s Move") simply by the flick of a wrist. It says all sorts of powerful things about his athleticism, with all the positive associations that implies (about, among other things, his readiness to do battle on the hill)." Or maybe he just wants to get text notifications and track his heart rate, steps, and calories burned, all of which are functions of the Fitbit Surge.