12 ms·

From a marketing perspective, it's a greater blunder still: asking people to think about what they'd want Glass to do it will quickly set expectations well beyo

by andreyf 15y ago

From a marketing perspective, it's a greater blunder still: asking people to think about what they'd want Glass to do it will quickly set expectations well beyond what's technologically feasible for an initial product. That and the wishful concept video almost guarantee the initial product will be a disappointment. And that's a damn shame, because given Google's talent, it'll nevertheless be a engineering feat of epic proportion. That said, perhaps Google doesn't care about releasing perfectly marketed hit products a la Apple. If wearable computers catch on that make it easier to check-in to the places you go and +1 the stuff you like, they'll make tons more money from useful targeted ads than units of hardware shipped, just as they do now.

FredFredrickson 15y ago
"And that's a damn shame, because given Google's talent, it'll nevertheless be a engineering feat of epic proportion." You know, I have respect for the people Google employs - they are certainly a very talented bunch. But what has Google ever engineered, at least physically, that has set your expectations so high?
- courtewing 15y ago
  I think the technical infrastructure they've built to support Youtube, Google Search, and the rest of their products is a modern technological marvel, and that was designed 100% in-house as far as I know. I don't think they've developed a physical consumer product that is revolutionary, but I believe they have the talent to do so.
- atonse 15y ago
  Everything I've heard about the self driving car gets me more excited than Search ever did. But then again I've never seen it.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- jrockway 15y ago
  But what has Google ever engineered, at least physically, that has set your expectations so high? Driverless cars.
  - danilocampos 15y ago
    Quite so! I'm very excited to head on down to my Google dealership and pick one-- Oh. There's a huge difference between a research project and a shipping product. I'm most excited for this development as well, but I'll be withholding my acclaim until they actually deliver it. So far, all of this stuff is an elaborate Montessori school science project.
    - xxbondsxx 15y ago
      If you've followed the DARPA Grand Challenge since 2004, you'll realize that it's _not_ just a school science project. The Google car is going to be ready for market far before the legal, insurance, and other non-technical issues are sorted out. In other words, they could ship "now" if they weren't doing such a revolutionary product. If you make a trivially incremental improvement on an already-existing product (iPad3) then that's a lot easier
      - 2muchcoffeeman 15y ago
        That still sounds silly. If you have the muscle of Google, wouldn't you get the legal ball rolling first, so that when your car is ready, you can sell immediately? Does a driverless car even count as basic research that they can spin off into a consumer product?
        lsiebert 15y ago
        Which they did. Nevada now has laws governing autonomously piloted cars, and California is working on it, last I checked. If they can get such vehicles legal and available to the general public in California, it will be legal everywhere else within a year or two at most. California sets or has had the ability to set a lot of standards for the country, from vehicle emissions, textbooks, to now, apparently, driverless cars.
- mtrimpe 15y ago
  I wonder if Google will end up going the same route as Philips. I'm from the home-town of Philips, the company that became big selling light-bulbs but then expanded into a myriad of great technical innovations. We were always joking however about how they were able to make the greatest products, but were never able to sell them. There are so many examples of absolutely great products/innovations which were eventually canned or, if they weren't IP protected, were successfully released to market several years later by a competitor. I really hope Google doesn't fall into this trap, because the even the greatest still need to be sold...
hkmurakami 15y ago
>If wearable computers catch on that make it easier to check-in to the places you go and +1 the stuff you like, they'll make tons more money from useful targeted ads than units of hardware shipped, just as they do now. I expect that they have patented "location based XYZ implemented by wearable computing devices" up the wazoo before this announcement. Even if Google Glass doesn't become the market leader, they're set to reap its rewards in more ways than one.

by andreyf 15y ago

FredFredrickson 15y ago

"And that's a damn shame, because given Google's talent, it'll nevertheless be a engineering feat of epic proportion." You know, I have respect for the people Google employs - they are certainly a very talented bunch. But what has Google ever engineered, at least physically, that has set your expectations so high?

courtewing 15y ago
I think the technical infrastructure they've built to support Youtube, Google Search, and the rest of their products is a modern technological marvel, and that was designed 100% in-house as far as I know. I don't think they've developed a physical consumer product that is revolutionary, but I believe they have the talent to do so.
atonse 15y ago
Everything I've heard about the self driving car gets me more excited than Search ever did. But then again I've never seen it.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
jrockway 15y ago
But what has Google ever engineered, at least physically, that has set your expectations so high? Driverless cars.
- danilocampos 15y ago
  Quite so! I'm very excited to head on down to my Google dealership and pick one-- Oh. There's a huge difference between a research project and a shipping product. I'm most excited for this development as well, but I'll be withholding my acclaim until they actually deliver it. So far, all of this stuff is an elaborate Montessori school science project.
  - xxbondsxx 15y ago
    If you've followed the DARPA Grand Challenge since 2004, you'll realize that it's _not_ just a school science project. The Google car is going to be ready for market far before the legal, insurance, and other non-technical issues are sorted out. In other words, they could ship "now" if they weren't doing such a revolutionary product. If you make a trivially incremental improvement on an already-existing product (iPad3) then that's a lot easier
    - 2muchcoffeeman 15y ago
      That still sounds silly. If you have the muscle of Google, wouldn't you get the legal ball rolling first, so that when your car is ready, you can sell immediately? Does a driverless car even count as basic research that they can spin off into a consumer product?
      - lsiebert 15y ago
        Which they did. Nevada now has laws governing autonomously piloted cars, and California is working on it, last I checked. If they can get such vehicles legal and available to the general public in California, it will be legal everywhere else within a year or two at most. California sets or has had the ability to set a lot of standards for the country, from vehicle emissions, textbooks, to now, apparently, driverless cars.
mtrimpe 15y ago
I wonder if Google will end up going the same route as Philips. I'm from the home-town of Philips, the company that became big selling light-bulbs but then expanded into a myriad of great technical innovations. We were always joking however about how they were able to make the greatest products, but were never able to sell them. There are so many examples of absolutely great products/innovations which were eventually canned or, if they weren't IP protected, were successfully released to market several years later by a competitor. I really hope Google doesn't fall into this trap, because the even the greatest still need to be sold...

hkmurakami 15y ago

>If wearable computers catch on that make it easier to check-in to the places you go and +1 the stuff you like, they'll make tons more money from useful targeted ads than units of hardware shipped, just as they do now. I expect that they have patented "location based XYZ implemented by wearable computing devices" up the wazoo before this announcement. Even if Google Glass doesn't become the market leader, they're set to reap its rewards in more ways than one.