I've recently started wearing an automatic watch. Since it is entirely mechanical, it's powered completely by the movement of my wrist. If I stop wearing it for a few days, the movement stops and the time needs to be reset.

This creates an interesting dependency: the watch needs me to function. As a result, I feel motivated to wear the watch as often as I can.

It's interesting to compare this with my relationship to other technology. My iPhone also requires me to provide it with power, and even some of its apps -- like Instagram -- ask me to open them every day if I wish to use all their features. But I don't feel any particular affinity for my devices or apps as a result of these constraints. The phone's frequent battery charging is an inconvenience (compared to older phones) that I hope improves over time, and apps with time-based limitations feel like a gimmick to encourage me to regularly use them.

Constraints can be empowering, and I'm normally a big advocate for them. Perhaps there is a different appreciation for an object when its constraints arise naturally from its underlying technology. Or perhaps it's because I know that — in the instance of the watch — that constraint is what will enable it (with occasional maintenance) to last for years and years.

Either way, perhaps the value is in re-considering the origin of constraints from time to time, especially as users of technology. When the limitations of a constraint enable something that is even more meaningful to us, that's where the magic happens.