While Google Glass hasn’t even had a proper consumer launch yet, many have already written of its impending demise. People seem to have already lost interest in a product that you still have to be part of the Explorer Program to purchase. But the book on Glass may not be closed just yet.
Do you think Google Glass has a chance of becoming a successful product? Do you envision a significant number of people wearing the device? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Last week, the Blogosphere had essentially written the epitaph for Google Glass, but a new report indicates that Google is just getting started with the device.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google has entered into a deal with Intel, which will see the latter replacing Texas Instruments as the chipmaker for Glass. There will reportedly be a new version of Glass, which features a chip from Intel, and Intel will help market the device for workplace purposes.
According to the Journal, it will specifically focus on hospital networks and manufacturers, but will also develop new workplace uses. Google reportedly uses Intel chips in some or its other devices including its self-driving cars and Nexus Player.
The device is of course already in use by some healthcare facilities and manufacturers. BMW, for example, is using it to help evaluate vehicle quality.
MIT’s Technology Review recently proclaimed Google Glass dead. Here’s an excerpt from that piece, giving some explanation of this reasoning:
It’s not even close to being something people yearn for, at least not beyond the Glass Explorers who each paid $1,500 for early access.
Although Google says it’s still committed to Glass, several companies, including Twitter, have stopped working on apps for it. Babak Parviz, the creator of Glass, left Google in July for a job as a vice president at Amazon, where he’s looking into new areas of technology. Even some of the early adopters are getting weary of the device. “I found that it was not very useful for very much, and it tended to disturb people around me that I have this thing,” says James Katz, the director of emerging media studies at Boston University’s College of Communication.
Wired says the only way to save the device is to kill it. This article basically makes the case that Google shouldn’t focus on the hardware of Glass, but should just let others make better products using the platform, not unlike the company’s approach to Android.
Reuters discusses the decreased interest in Glass from developers.
If you ask me, Google should fast track the contact lens version (they’ve already got one type of smart contacts), which automatically removes the element of people not wanting to look like dorks wearing the device. Of course that won’t do much to quell the privacy concerns.
As far as Glass, the good thing for Google is that Google Glass addiction is already a thing.
As my colleague Josh Wolford shared a couple months ago:
The case comes from a study published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, where a man is said to have the first case of “internet addiction disorder involving the problematic use of Google Glass.”
According to researchers, the man – who was being treated at the Navy’s Substance Abuse and Recovery Program – displayed alarming behavior when deprived of his beloved Google Glass. He’d been using the wearable tech for upwards of 18 hours a day.
“The patient exhibited a notable, nearly involuntary movement of the right hand up to his temple area and tapping it with his forefinger. He reported that if he had been prevented from wearing the device while at work, he would become extremely irritable and argumentative,” says the study.
That’s probably not a good thing for society, but it would seem to suggest that there as element of “getting hooked” that has been experienced by some.
Does Google Glass stand a chance or is it destined to fail? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Image via Google