My life already is filled with technological marvels I don’t fully know how to operate and probably never will. These include, but not limited to: my laptop, my iPhone, the defrost function on my microwave and a gadget that is supposed to display stuff from my laptop onto my flatscreen television. Which is controlled by a remote I don’t fully know how to operate, either.

And now there’s another gadget on the tech horizon to compound my confusion.

A wristwatch.

Having worn a procession of wristwatches for a majority of my adult life, I managed to become fairly proficient at using them. But then, all that was required was the ability to count to 12 and to differentiate between the big hand and the little hand.

But time marches on for technology in its merciless drive to make many of us to feel completely helpless. So coming soon to a wrist near you will be a “smartwatch” to communicate with your smartphone.

A watch that doubles as a communication device is not a new concept, of course. Dick Tracy, the aptly named detective in a cartoon strip dating back to the 1930s, used his “2-way wrist radio” to keep in touch with his even more aptly named partner Sam Catchem. It was a vital tool in the pursuit of villains with monickers such as Pruneface, Flattop Jones and Breathless Mahoney.

But smartwatches, with prices ranging from $130 to $20,000, will do a great deal more than merely put Pruneface behind bars where he belongs. They will connect with apps that will let you make calls, activate your phone’s camera and even calculate the distance from tee to green on your favorite golf course.

One of the smartwatch’s biggest selling points is that it can alert you to calls, texts and emails you might otherwise have missed.

Say, for instance, you left your phone in the car and missed a call from your spouse. If you’re wearing a smartwatch, it will buzz your wrist to let you know he or she is trying to get in touch with you. Sometimes technology is too smart for its own good. One of the advantages of not having a smartwatch is being able to explain, “Sorry, dear, I left my phone in the car and didn’t get your message.”

According to what I’ve read, smartwatches eventually will have a whole lot of other wonderful capabilities, although none of the reviews mentioned anything about them being able to tell you what time it is.

But I’m sure there will be an app for that. And that I won’t be able to figure out how to use it.