That's still almost $5.5 million. Less than the cost of development, but probably not that far off.
Snap sold fewer than 42K Spectacles, down 35% in Q2
131–140 of 165 posts
Re: Snap sold fewer than 42K Spectacles, down 35% in Q2
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bluetooth working great for Apple AirPods. I think Snapchat is having a software problem.
FWIW I recently bought a $30 waterproof bluetooth speaker that goes on my bike. Paired it once on first power up, it Just Works (tm) since.
Your bluetooth speaker setup works great for precisely your scenario - the speaker is paired with one only device.
It gets wonky if that single speaker has paired with multiple devices before. For example in a home, where you've paired it with your laptop, phone, iPad, etc. Try it out. Audio will cut off sometimes suddenly when it decides to switch pairing partners as another paired device appears in range.
Re: Snap sold fewer than 42K Spectacles, down 35% in Q2
#133Re: Snap sold fewer than 42K Spectacles, down 35% in Q2
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bluetooth working great for Apple AirPods. I think Snapchat is having a software problem.
I agree that it's a software problem, but most vendors aren't in apple's position of controlling every single link of the chain. I do think it'll get better over time. NFC/tap pairing will eventually replace Menu + Manual Madness, show-stopping bugs will get fixed, capability sets will stabilize, conventions will develop to smooth over variation in UI choices, "worse is better" decisions will be unwound, and eventual…
Apple will probably do the Bluetooth equivalent to what they did with earphones: they switched the mic and ground wire, forcing earphone manufacturers to either support iOS or TRRS on the built-in remotes. I love my Macbook Pro and iPhone, but Apple can be a truly infuriating company.
Re: Snap sold fewer than 42K Spectacles, down 35% in Q2
#135Based on my brief exposure, Spectacles is a very polished product. Everything about it had an aura of breezy, forward-moving fun that is usually absent from tech: the purchase experience at a super-cute vending machine that displays a rendering of the glasses on your face; the yellow carrying case that doubles as extra battery for the glasses; the effortless installation experience; even the round video that invites…
> the purchase experience at a super-cute vending machine
So that's what that yellow thing at the mall was! I thought it was some sort of bizarre Minions tie in for something.
Re: Snap sold fewer than 42K Spectacles, down 35% in Q2
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the mysteriousness is part of the marketing. Makes them seem more obscure and thus desirable to some.
That's part of snapchat's brand, they make all their shit unintuitive, obscure, hard to discover and use. It's supposed to make it so that you feel hip and in the know when you finally discover how to make that mustache appear on your face or make text float in the background of your video. But of course that doesn't seem to transfer that well to selling hardware.
> they make all their shit unintuitive
Why so aggressive?
There is a clear reasoning for this strategy. People and especially press talk more about the product.
Btw, I think Snapchat is quite intuitive. Some features might not be easy to find or to know about. But once you know it is very intuitive and fast to use them. I think it is similar to Vim, if you don't know anything about Vim you cannot even quit Vim but once you know all the stuff Vim is one of the most intuitive editors because UI and most commands are well designed.
Re: Snap sold fewer than 42K Spectacles, down 35% in Q2
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Frictionless sharing of your life with the people who matter to you. We have the opposite problem. How to add friction to that sharing...
I think anyone who's not growing up in the world of frictionless sharing is gonna have a problem with that. Spectacle and Google Glass's issue of having a camera on your face won't weird in another decade. When this generation's teenagers are living out their 20s. Older people will find hyper-reality frightening though we'll get use to it, just never participate to the degree younger generations will.
I think this is a narrative created by old people who have no idea how "young people" think.
Nobody likes invasion of privacy, period. Especially young people. An old married couple in their 60 has not much to hide (also nothing much interesting to share), whereas a teenager does a lot of things they don't want to be made public.
If you don't believe me, go ask any teenager if they're cool with some random person "frictionlessly sharing" someone else's footage without consent. Google glass didn't fail because it was weird, it failed because people passionately hated when someone else was wearing a google glass.
Re: Snap sold fewer than 42K Spectacles, down 35% in Q2
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're doomed by the slow UX for uploading: 1) record w/o really knowing how the content is coming out (it's like stepping back into the Kodak age after using an iPhone for 10 years), 2) open Snap app, 3) reconnect the Bluetooth for 1-2 min because the connection is crap from the glasses to my phone, 4) upload all the videos from my glasses which takes another 1-2 min, 5) select specific video snips to share, 6) sel…
I don't think your the target audience. Snapchat UX is amazing and an entire generation uses for all communication purposes. Facebook of OUR time.
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Re: Snap sold fewer than 42K Spectacles, down 35% in Q2
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're doomed by the slow UX for uploading: 1) record w/o really knowing how the content is coming out (it's like stepping back into the Kodak age after using an iPhone for 10 years), 2) open Snap app, 3) reconnect the Bluetooth for 1-2 min because the connection is crap from the glasses to my phone, 4) upload all the videos from my glasses which takes another 1-2 min, 5) select specific video snips to share, 6) sel…
I don't think your the target audience. Snapchat UX is amazing and an entire generation uses for all communication purposes. Facebook of OUR time.
What I mostly notice about Snapchat is the ads on the right side are obnoxiously sexual or celebrity driven. Not so amazing experience there, it's like the checkout aisle at Safeway.
(ever noticed that magazine where the cover is always "how to lose 30 pounds in a day" and then a chocolate cake?)
Re: Snap sold fewer than 42K Spectacles, down 35% in Q2
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bluetooth working great for Apple AirPods. I think Snapchat is having a software problem.
I think the problem is that in this case Bluetooth is just not fast enough to transfer large amounts of video data. What they should do is use BT to negotiate details of an ad-hoc Wi-Fi network and use that larger pipe to send the actual data.
That is exactly how the Spectacles work. Bluetooth is only used for transfer as a fallback mechanism.