Google Glass Discontinued – For Now

You Can Take It Off Now. No, Really. Take It Off.

patentlyapple.com

Tuesday was your last chance to pick up your very own Google Glass. Were you one of the few people who were selected from Google’s initial process to be able to fork over £1,500 in order to take the rather odd looking device for a spin?

If you were, you probably felt like you were taking bold steps into the future just like the people who picked up the first mobile phones felt. Remember how those looked very clunky and awkward? Well, the same applies for Google Glass, sadly.

Google Glass’ production run is coming to a timely end and I’m certain that not many people will mourn its passing. We've been assured by Google that this isn't the end of its Glass project and that it will return after going under the knife for what I hope is scrutinising re-development.

You see, Google Glass is very much the first rendition of something bigger. Take a look at anything developed in the modern world and how it has changed in such a short amount of time. Think about it, the first hard drive which was made about 40 years ago could only hold 5MB, that’s just one song. A short one of not great quality, either. Now I've got a terabyte hard drive just sitting on my desk like it’s no big thing. Times change.

Wearable tech is however becoming a more prominent feature in our lives. Apple has their watch coming out later this year and we’re slowly making steps into Virtual Reality with the Oculus Rift. But I strongly believe that we’re not quite ready for all of this yet. The wearable multimedia watches are alright, but when we start comprehending virtual reality or Iron Man level Google Glass we've still got some ways to come.

Google have commented on the end of their first rendition of Glass and have assured wary users that they will be back. They say that they have successfully discovered what they needed to know about wearable tech and that they will now take the good and bad feedback and come back later on with a much more refined product. I hope that rings true. I think a solid first step would be to show people when Glass is recording, people ended up feeling as if their privacy was being invaded whenever they saw someone wearing glass. This was due to the specs being able to record what the user was seeing without any warning. Creepy stuff.

I think Google will probably take Glass and aim it much more for businesses than for consumers. There’s a lot that Glass could be doing in terms of work. Imagine how useful a well refined Glass product could be for such a wide variety of professional environments.

fastcompany.net

This new step for Glass will see it become its own standalone unit and will be run by Ivy Ross and Tony Fadell. I hope they take Google Glass in the right direction.

Let’s wait and see what they have in store for us. 

Tom Welby

Tom has just graduated from University of East London in Creative and Professional Writing. He loves writing and he currently manages, edits and writes for this blog. His other loves include Arnold Schwarzenegger films and his dog. Follow him @TomAtSMF

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