The reviews are rolling in. For the most part, they’re not good. Google may have laid a major egg with Google Glass by building a device that has such a limited set of realistic uses that one might be better off taping a GoPro camera to their cap and wearing a quality Bluetooth headset connected to their smartphone instead.
If you’re wanting a 1st-person perspective video for a roller coaster ride, Google Glass may come in handy. Then again, a GoPro would work just fine for that. If you want to be connected to online communication services all the time, Google Glass has you covered. Of course, you’ll need a smartphone to connect it to if you’re away from WiFi since it doesn’t have its own data access connection, in which case you might as well just pull out your smartphone, right? It’s much easier to type your Facebook update or email rather than risk missing a word or two through Google Glass’ voice interface since it makes it impossible to edit your message (you have to start from scratch if you mess up). If you want to be connected all day, Google Glass works for you as long as you have a few in hand since the battery apparently drains after 3.5 hours of use.
If you want to be distracted hands-free, Google Glass is definitely good for that and thankfully no other devices on the market are able to accomplish that nearly as well.
Headaches. Poor quality in bright sunlight. Buggy voice controls. Merciless user interface. The list of complaints rolling in from tech bloggers who have (or haven’t) given the “next big thing” a test drive. Many are saying that it’s a failure. Others are being more sympathetic, saying that it’s going to take time for it to be ready for prime time but that it’s heading in the right direction.
Before anyone comes out and takes this information to mean that it won’t be successful, let’s think back a few years. Before the iPad was released, it was generally panned by the tech blogosphere as well. Jokes were made about how it was an iPhone with a bigger screen. “Experts” said there was no way anyone would pay more than a couple hundred dollars for a device that was weaker than a laptop and not much stronger than a smartphone that didn’t have the ability to make phone calls. It was an “iPod mega touch, nothing more,” as one prominent tech blogger declared.
It didn’t turn out as badly for Apple as everyone seemed to predict back then. Maybe Google Glass will be the same. Then again, maybe it will flop miserably. Either way, I’m going to wait until the dust settles and the bugs are fixed before considering buying one, just as I did with the iPad 2.
Here’s what Saturday Night Live had to say about it. A low-quality version of the video is embedded below for those who are blocked by NBC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMcpWxF9hbI
