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Personally, I don't view Google Glass a fashion statement. It's a tool for me. Like my computer or camera. Same with my phone.

by dannyr 14y ago

gfodor 14y ago
You don't get to decide how people view something you wear on your face, they do. And I predict anyone non-technical (and many who are) will view it based upon how it makes the wearer look, not by what it can do. It remains to be seen if Glass is going to be considered cool. The blatant use of beautiful people wearing it doing fun and exciting things leads me to believe they understand they have a uphill battle on this front and basically need to convince the public that it is cool. This is a bad sign. Similar to how a kid when told by their parents to not do something subsequently do it, things our corporate masters make a blatant effort to tell us are cool usually are viewed as lame. The iPhone became cool on its own and was sold by a geek wearing a black turtleneck on a stage talking about a revolutionary communication device, not by a blonde celebrity going skydiving. Ask yourself: if you shut Glass off and just wear it will it change the way people perceive it? (Right or wrong.) If not, then it doesn't really matter what it does, its success or failure will be based upon how it makes people feel when wearing it.
- yew 14y ago
  I don't get to decide how people view my actual glasses either, but that doesn't mean I'm going to walk around blind. The usefulness of a thing as a tool is incidental to its value as a fashion statement. If Glass is actually revolutionary in the usefulness department I suspect we'll see the same sort of behavior we see with smartphones - many people owning and using them and a small number of people complaining about them alienating everyone from society. If it turns out to be just a gimmick, I agree it probably won't catch on. Though there are some pretty odd ideas about mainstream fashion in this thread, too. See the above post by someone who thinks that watches and expensive cars are unfashionable. I trust HN for a lot of things, but views on fashion (and on what's likely to become fashionable) isn't one of them.
  - gfodor 14y ago
    Fortunately you can buy glasses that look good and that people like. If you couldn't, we'd all be wearing contacts. There is also a huge difference between something that lets you see and something that affords you the convenience of not having to reach into your pocket to read Twitter. The last device that made you look smug, started off extremely expensive with the goal of getting cheaper with volume when the public inevitably scooped them up, and provided a convenience viewed as overt laziness because a cheaper more widely acceptable alternative existed was called the Segway. Glass already checks off two out of three (it's expensive, and is for people "too lazy" to take out their phone.) It remains to be seen if it hits the trifecta of also just plain looking doofy. I've only seen it on nerds and celebrities so it's hard to guess just how far on the doofus totem pole your average Glass wearer is going to be knocked.
    - rdouble 14y ago
      Maybe Google Glass will ultimately join the Segway as another mandatory piece of kit for mall security guards?
      - gfodor 14y ago
        A photo of a fat mall cop on a Segway wearing Glass could be the kiss of death.
    - yew 14y ago
      If you couldn't, we'd all be wearing contacts. I seriously doubt the accuracy of that judgment. Likewise with the rest of the post. 'smug' and 'lazy' are nice, quick labels but none of it actually serves to differentiate the Segway from any other product. (I mean, 'started off extremely expensive with the goal of getting cheaper with volume'? Really?) The Segway just didn't fit a niche. There was no reason to buy one, so they stayed rare and weird. Which is also why they remain fairly popular as a tourist attraction in quite a few places. The idea that Segways exude a 'douchebag' field (along with an irrational hatred of mall cops) seems to be either highly regional or simply confined to the Internet. Just based on my own anecdotal experience, of course ;)
- greiskul 14y ago
  > The blatant use of beautiful people wearing it doing fun and exciting things leads me to believe they understand they have a uphill battle on this front and basically need to convince the public that it is cool. This is a bad sign. If cigarette companies managed to use marketing and product placement to make smoking be cool and fashionable, I bet it can be used to make Glass look cool. Not sure if they are doing the right campaign, but they are on the right track.

Personally, I don't view Google Glass a fashion statement. It's a tool for me. Like my computer or camera. Same with my phone.

by dannyr 14y ago

Personally, I don't view Google Glass a fashion statement. It's a tool for me. Like my computer or camera. Same with my phone.

gfodor 14y ago

You don't get to decide how people view something you wear on your face, they do. And I predict anyone non-technical (and many who are) will view it based upon how it makes the wearer look, not by what it can do. It remains to be seen if Glass is going to be considered cool. The blatant use of beautiful people wearing it doing fun and exciting things leads me to believe they understand they have a uphill battle on this front and basically need to convince the public that it is cool. This is a bad sign. Similar to how a kid when told by their parents to not do something subsequently do it, things our corporate masters make a blatant effort to tell us are cool usually are viewed as lame. The iPhone became cool on its own and was sold by a geek wearing a black turtleneck on a stage talking about a revolutionary communication device, not by a blonde celebrity going skydiving. Ask yourself: if you shut Glass off and just wear it will it change the way people perceive it? (Right or wrong.) If not, then it doesn't really matter what it does, its success or failure will be based upon how it makes people feel when wearing it.

yew 14y ago
I don't get to decide how people view my actual glasses either, but that doesn't mean I'm going to walk around blind. The usefulness of a thing as a tool is incidental to its value as a fashion statement. If Glass is actually revolutionary in the usefulness department I suspect we'll see the same sort of behavior we see with smartphones - many people owning and using them and a small number of people complaining about them alienating everyone from society. If it turns out to be just a gimmick, I agree it probably won't catch on. Though there are some pretty odd ideas about mainstream fashion in this thread, too. See the above post by someone who thinks that watches and expensive cars are unfashionable. I trust HN for a lot of things, but views on fashion (and on what's likely to become fashionable) isn't one of them.
- gfodor 14y ago
  Fortunately you can buy glasses that look good and that people like. If you couldn't, we'd all be wearing contacts. There is also a huge difference between something that lets you see and something that affords you the convenience of not having to reach into your pocket to read Twitter. The last device that made you look smug, started off extremely expensive with the goal of getting cheaper with volume when the public inevitably scooped them up, and provided a convenience viewed as overt laziness because a cheaper more widely acceptable alternative existed was called the Segway. Glass already checks off two out of three (it's expensive, and is for people "too lazy" to take out their phone.) It remains to be seen if it hits the trifecta of also just plain looking doofy. I've only seen it on nerds and celebrities so it's hard to guess just how far on the doofus totem pole your average Glass wearer is going to be knocked.
  - rdouble 14y ago
    Maybe Google Glass will ultimately join the Segway as another mandatory piece of kit for mall security guards?
    - gfodor 14y ago
      A photo of a fat mall cop on a Segway wearing Glass could be the kiss of death.
  - yew 14y ago
    If you couldn't, we'd all be wearing contacts. I seriously doubt the accuracy of that judgment. Likewise with the rest of the post. 'smug' and 'lazy' are nice, quick labels but none of it actually serves to differentiate the Segway from any other product. (I mean, 'started off extremely expensive with the goal of getting cheaper with volume'? Really?) The Segway just didn't fit a niche. There was no reason to buy one, so they stayed rare and weird. Which is also why they remain fairly popular as a tourist attraction in quite a few places. The idea that Segways exude a 'douchebag' field (along with an irrational hatred of mall cops) seems to be either highly regional or simply confined to the Internet. Just based on my own anecdotal experience, of course ;)
greiskul 14y ago
> The blatant use of beautiful people wearing it doing fun and exciting things leads me to believe they understand they have a uphill battle on this front and basically need to convince the public that it is cool. This is a bad sign. If cigarette companies managed to use marketing and product placement to make smoking be cool and fashionable, I bet it can be used to make Glass look cool. Not sure if they are doing the right campaign, but they are on the right track.