Google Glass
From Invertopedia, the encyclopedia of how things fail
Google Glass was a computer worn like a pair of glasses, showing information in front of the wearer's eye and taking photos and video[3]. Google sold an Explorer Edition for $1,500 from April 2013 and said it aimed to have a consumer version anyone could buy by the end of that year[3]. That version never came: bars banned the device over secret recording[6][2], and Google stopped selling Glass to the public on January 19, 2015[2][1]. A workplace version followed in 2017, and Google stopped selling that too in March 2023[4][5].
Contents
The bet
Glasses that put the internet in front of your eye and a camera at eye level would be the next personal computer. Developers would build the uses[3], early "Explorers" would show the public what it was for, and a consumer version would follow within a year[3].
What happened
| 2012 | Glass is introduced with a skydive from an airship over San Francisco onto the stage of Google's developer conference.[2] |
|---|---|
| Apr 2013 | Google says it hopes to ship the $1,500 Explorer Edition this month, to people who signed up at the 2012 conference and 8,000 winners of an #ifIhadglass contest.[3] |
| Feb 2014 | Social media consultant Sarah Slocum says she was attacked at a San Francisco bar after wearing Glass inside. Others dispute her account.[6] |
| Mar 2014 | The Willows, a SoMa bar, asks Glass wearers to stay out. A website lists 12 San Francisco and 3 Oakland bars that ban the device.[6] |
| 2014 | Google publishes etiquette guidelines for wearers, acknowledging the slur "Glassholes."[6] |
| Jan 15, 2015 | Google says Glass will leave the X lab as its own unit, led by Ivy Ross and reporting to Nest chief executive Tony Fadell.[1][2] |
| Jan 19, 2015 | The Explorer Edition stops being sold to the public.[2][1] |
| Jul 18, 2017 | Alphabet's X announces Glass Enterprise Edition for workers, sold through business partners.[4] |
| 2019 | A second-generation Enterprise Edition arrives.[5] |
| Mar 15, 2023 | Google stops selling Glass Enterprise Edition and ends support on September 15, 2023.[5] |
The kill shot
The people around the wearer hated it, and the product had never asked them.
Glass could record people without their knowledge[6]. Forrester found that 43 percent of consumers were interested in Glass, but 50 percent had privacy concerns[2], and InformationWeek noted that pointing a camera at people can seem rude or aggressive[2]. Wearers got a nickname, "Glassholes," and Google had to tell its own Explorers that "breaking the rules or being rude will not get businesses excited about Glass"[6].
The places that took to it were ones where everyone in the room had agreed to it. In factories, warehouses and clinics, AGCO, DHL and healthcare users reported time saved[4].
Red flags ignored
- The camera pointed at everyone else. The wearer chose Glass. The people nearby, who could be recorded, did not[6].
- A slur for its users. "Glasshole" caught on fast enough that Google addressed it in its own guidelines[6].
- A launch built as a show. A skydive onto a stage sold the spectacle, not a use[2].
- Beta for over two years. Buyers paid $1,500 for a device that stayed in beta for more than two years[3][2].
The cost
Explorers paid $1,500 each for a device still in beta[3][2]. The consumer version Google aimed to have by the end of 2013 never shipped[3][4], and 9to5Google later called the original consumer headsets a commercial failure[5].
Google kept going in workplaces for another eight years, until it stopped selling the Enterprise Edition on March 15, 2023 and said no software updates were planned[5].
The inversion
Ask the people standing next to your user what they think. A product used in public needs consent from the people it touches, not only from the person who bought it.
What survived
The workplace version. Glass Enterprise Edition gave factory and hospital workers hands-free instructions, and partners reported results such as 25 percent shorter production times at AGCO and 15 percent better supply chain efficiency at DHL[4]. Google kept working on augmented reality glasses after Glass, showing a live translation feature in 2022[5].
References
- ^ “Google Glass Explorer program ends as Tony Fadell takes over the product”. The Next Web (Napier Lopez), January 15, 2015. Glass leaving the X unit, Ivy Ross reporting to Tony Fadell, public sales ending January 19.
- ^ “Google Glass Killed: For Now”. InformationWeek (Thomas Claburn), January 16, 2015. The 2012 skydive launch, the $1,500 price, the January 19, 2015 end, the move out of Google X to Nest, Forrester's 43 and 50 percent figures, bar bans, more than two years in beta.
- ^ “Google Glass Explorer Edition to Ship This Month”. ABC News (Joanna Stern), April 10, 2013. What Glass did, the $1,500 Explorer Edition, April 2013 shipping, who could buy it, the 8,000 contest winners, the end-of-2013 consumer target.
- ^ “Google Glass is officially back with a clearer vision”. Engadget (Steve Dent), July 18, 2017. Glass Enterprise Edition, its partners and the AGCO, DHL and healthcare results; no public relaunch expected.
- ^ “Google has discontinued the Glass Enterprise Edition”. 9to5Google (Kyle Bradshaw), March 15, 2023. Sales ending March 15, 2023, support ending September 15, 2023, the 2019 second edition, the consumer version as a commercial failure, Google's later AR glasses work.
- ^ “Website Tracks Growing Number Of Bay Area Bars Banning Google Glass”. CBS San Francisco, March 7, 2014. The bar bans, The Willows, the Sarah Slocum incident, recording without consent, "Glassholes", Google's etiquette guidelines and quote.