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Does looking at the Apple Watch make your skin crawl? You're not alone.

<shudder>
Getty Images

Who cares if the Apple Watch is useful or if it costs too much? Here's the real question: does looking at it make you gag?

The Daily Dot yesterday pointed to a new brand of Twitter backlash against the Apple Watch. The reason is an internet-famous phobia known as trypophobia. And if you don't know what it is, a) you may not want to scroll down, and b) Google-image-search "trypophobia" at your own peril. Trypophobia is, literally, the "fear of holes." The Apple Watch isn't covered with holes, of course; rather, it's that big cluster of dots on the face that bothers people.

Sufferers of trypophobia get uncomfortable by clustered, irregularly patterned or shaped holes, like those in lotus seed pods or honeycombs, or patterns of sores on skin. It's not a recognized phobia in the DSM, the manual of mental disorders that psychiatrists use, but according to one recent study, an estimated 16 percent of people suffer from it. One theory is that it's an evolutionary response to the patterns on poisonous animals. Another is that it's just a social-media-fed frenzy.

Either way, it appears Apple just can't learn. Its iPhone 5c cases engendered a similar reaction.

iPhone 5c case

(Apple)

And that means the company will miss out on at least a few customers.

[h/t Daily Dot]

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