“So that’s a smartwatch?” said the nurse at my doctor’s office. “Yup,” I replied, giving her a better look at my sleek, round, black Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch.

“Is it an Apple Watch?”

Everyone asks that.

“No.”

“Well, it’s … nice.” A polite way of saying she had no idea of what it did. “I’m a non-techie, you know.”

I raised my arm, and the watch automatically turned on, displaying a cool minimalist watchface with orange digital numbers. “So it’s a watch!” she squealed.

“Yeah, but it’s a bit more,” I answered. “It tells me when I have a phone call. And look at this—,” I tapped on the dial, and up came a menu with words like “speak now,” “agenda for today,” “show me my heart rate,” “take a note, “remind me to go for a run,” “send a text,” and “play music.”

“Wow! It does all that?”

I winced. “Well, not exactly. It’s not really doing anything.  My cell phone is.”

“Your cell phone is …,” she repeated. Her eyes glazed, then she got very nurse-y.

“The doctor will be in to see you shortly,” she said with a tight smile, leaving swiftly and leaving me wondering if there’s a better way to explain what this smartwatch—or any smartwatch—actually does.

That’s not really a watch on my wrist; it’s really a downsized miniature computer with capabilities we’ve only begun to understand.

At this early stage of the game—the modern smartwatch has only gained a credible market in the last two years—most smartwatches provide information already available on your cell phone. And by “cell phone,” it’s somewhat limited to roughly two-year-old phones with screens from Apple and Android. (Windows Phone support may be coming, but not now.)

Isn’t $100-plus (“plus” includes Apple’s $17,000 watch) an awful waste of money for a gadget whose only purpose is to keep you from pulling your phone out of your pocket? That’s actually a reasonable question. Today’s smartwatches are essentially “gateways” to your smartphone: either passing on event notifications, text messages, showing you the first few lines of email. Their small screen can provide only so much information, so they’re also a “headline” service for the more in-depth material available on your smartphone.

But they are, or can be, much more than that. The health and fitness capabilities of many smartwatches (from Jawbone, Fitbit and Microsoft, for example) are a good indication of a direction that cell phones can’t easily duplicate, although you’ll still need your smartwatch paired to your smartphone. (“Paired” is the tech term for the wireless connection between a computer/computerized device and another device via Bluetooth wireless technology.) On your wrist, some devices are measuring heart monitoring, and/or providing running metrics, exercise monitoring (calories burned, etc.), workout guides, and even fully developed health plans.

Moreover, updated software and lots of apps are coming. One can only guess at the developments in entertainment, productivity, science, security: stuff we haven’t even thought of.

Bottom line: These are all first-generation devices no matter how slick they look, or how good is their marketing. All have a steep learning curve. Is it the Next Big Thing? Is it strictly for tech-oriented people who love buying this stuff? Is the smartwatch the next candidate for The Fad Hall Of Fame, achieving the status of hula hoops and Chia plants? I dunno. But after wearing one for a few weeks, I think they’re really onto something.

Follow technology journalist Ferderber on Twitter @SkipFerderber.