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Why Google Glass Broke

nytimes.com

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Re: Why Google Glass Broke

#21

Post by TeMPOraL »

adnanh wrote: post #2

Personally I think it was the camera that killed it. That, and the fact that google put out an unfinished product without providing plethora of resources and apps for it, to get people excited, hoping the community would finish it for them... That, and the fact that people started calling Google Glass users "glassholes".

> That, and the fact that people started calling Google Glass users "glassholes".

That was one weird thing I did not expect to happen after the release, but I can't stop thinking that a people calling Glass wearers "glassholes" are themselves actual assholes.

Re: Why Google Glass Broke

#23

Post by msabalau »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #16
vacri wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We got a few at my old workplace, and the tone of this article really annoyed me because you had to be wilfully ignorant to think that Glass was a finished, polished product. The whole point of 'Explorers' was explicitly stated as being for finding the kinks in the system outside the lab. The people who claimed it 'worst product ever' were moronic linkbaiters. One of the problems it did have that I thought was a prob…

>> "The whole point of 'Explorers' was explicitly stated as being for finding the kinks in the system outside the lab." Originally. Then they started to sell it on the play store for $1500 with a full marketing page and no explanation that it was a beta product.

Indeed. It was one thing to release a prototype to people interested in experimenting and playing around. It was another to push it through a retail channel alongside designer frames.

Certainly the time they released it to the UK market Google would have known that they were selling an evolutionary dead end as if it were a product.

I would assume this was more an act of internal political cowardness at recognizing reality rather than grubbing for money.

Re: Why Google Glass Broke

#25

Post by cowsandmilk »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #21
adnanh wrote: post #2

Personally I think it was the camera that killed it. That, and the fact that google put out an unfinished product without providing plethora of resources and apps for it, to get people excited, hoping the community would finish it for them... That, and the fact that people started calling Google Glass users "glassholes".

> That, and the fact that people started calling Google Glass users "glassholes". That was one weird thing I did not expect to happen after the release, but I can't stop thinking that a people calling Glass wearers "glassholes" are themselves actual assholes.

They positioned it as an up-market, exclusive, fashion device. If you drive a BMW, you've automatically classified as an asshole. Not at all surprising that people wearing glass were labelled that way.

Re: Why Google Glass Broke

#26

Post by msabalau »

ohitsdom wrote: post #22

This article made is seem like the demise of glass was due to Brin's love life...

I read that more as personal attachments and enthusiasms led Brin to over invest and over promote the project in a way that was harmful. Perhaps the author also saw this as further evidence demonstrating fecklessness.

Re: Why Google Glass Broke

#27

Post by [deleted] »

greggman wrote: post #3

I'm not convinced it broke any more than the newton or the palm pilot broke. It's just too early. palm pilots, newtons, and other PDAs were around for 13+ years and were considered "for geeks only". It wasn't until iPhone that PDAs finally became popular with the masses. Personal HUDs or Google Glass etc will go through the same steps. Something, maybe not totally similar but something with a camera, a HUD, augmented…

[deleted]

Re: Why Google Glass Broke

#29

Post by maccard »

vacri wrote: post #5
greggman wrote: post #3

I'm not convinced it broke any more than the newton or the palm pilot broke. It's just too early. palm pilots, newtons, and other PDAs were around for 13+ years and were considered "for geeks only". It wasn't until iPhone that PDAs finally became popular with the masses. Personal HUDs or Google Glass etc will go through the same steps. Something, maybe not totally similar but something with a camera, a HUD, augmented…

We got a few at my old workplace, and the tone of this article really annoyed me because you had to be wilfully ignorant to think that Glass was a finished, polished product. The whole point of 'Explorers' was explicitly stated as being for finding the kinks in the system outside the lab. The people who claimed it 'worst product ever' were moronic linkbaiters. One of the problems it did have that I thought was a prob…

> It was a marvellous bit of well-made kit

Marvelous other than the 1500 dollar price tag for an unfinished product, the lack of software, the abysmal battery life, and the obvious privacy concerns of this device being constructed by one of the most invasive companies on the planet?

I agree with the fact that it's the first, but calling it marvelous is a bit of a stretch.

Re: Why Google Glass Broke

#30

Post by jschwartzi »

cowsandmilk wrote: post #25
TeMPOraL wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That, and the fact that people started calling Google Glass users "glassholes". That was one weird thing I did not expect to happen after the release, but I can't stop thinking that a people calling Glass wearers "glassholes" are themselves actual assholes.

They positioned it as an up-market, exclusive, fashion device. If you drive a BMW, you've automatically classified as an asshole. Not at all surprising that people wearing glass were labelled that way.

I thought it had more to do with the fact that there was no way to know if you were being recorded.

Basically, think about the most embarrassing or terrible thing you've ever done. Now, imagine that that were a video on Youtube or Facebook and you were automatically tagged in it. Users were dubbed Glassholes because they chose to walk around with this kind of power in bars and public bathrooms.

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