4 ms·
This mocking of Google Glass as something that only "geeks" would ever use, because it is awkward and fails too frequently in embarrassing ways, suggests the pr
by cs702 14y ago
This mocking of Google Glass as something that only "geeks" would ever use, because it is awkward and fails too frequently in embarrassing ways, suggests the product and technology have a very long way to go before they cross the chasm into anything resembling mass-market appeal.
While I think that ever-more-personal Internet-powered products like Google Glass ARE the future, I can't help but see some parallels with Apple's original tablet computer, the Newton MessagePad, which never quite recovered from the drubbing it took in a Doonesbury comic strip, because its handwriting recognition software was awkward and failed too frequently in embarrassing ways.[1]
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[1] Here's one of the Doonesbury comic strips mocking the Newton MessagePad: http://fortunebrainstormtech.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/db930827.gif?w=900&h=294 http://fortunebrainstormtech.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/db9... and here's a NewsWeek article from 1993 discussing it: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1993/10/10/the-handwriting-on-the-wall.html http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1993/10/10/the-handwri...
- mtgx 14y agoSeems like the equivalent of MaxiPads to me. Once Google Apps get some killer apps, that you can't do with any other device, or not nearly as well, they'll come around.
- cromwellian 14y agoGoogle Voice recognition isn't anywhere near that bad. There are two times I have seen Glass fail to understand badly. The first was a woman wearing it over long hair, the hair might have been interfering with the mic. The second and more important case is with Indian accents.
- fyi80 14y agoOr someone who has never used it, mocking its imagined failures, shows that when people gets there hands on it, they will see it wildly outperforming expectations and achieve mass-market appeal.
- OGinparadise 14y agoFine. Why would a normal person need this, especially since this is in addition to his/her smartphone? Instead of looking like a dork all the time with G glasses on, why not look at the phone for a restaurant or directions and then put it in your pocket /purse? How hard is to pull the phone again 5 minutes later if you aren't sure?
- jedberg 14y agoWhen I'm driving and I need directions a heads up display would be immensely useful.
- OGinparadise 14y agoEven a Garmin from 5 years ago works great with voice commands and great displays. Of course we have iPhones and Galaxys that do that too, no need for extra gadgets
- jedberg 14y agoI have a nav system that talks, but I still have to glance down occasionally. I'd much rather have it in my peripheral vision.
- snowwrestler 14y agoIt doesn't matter where it's displayed, looking at a map while driving takes attention away from the road. In the days of paper maps everyone knew it was silly and dangerous to try to unfold and read one while driving. I don't know how this common sense has disappeared just because of LCD screens.
- jedberg 14y agoNot if the map is displayed in your field of vision. This is why airplanes have a display projected onto the glass. I drove a Corvette with a heads up display once, and it was great not having to glance down at the gauges. And also, you still have to glance down while driving to see how fast you're going, so clearly glancing off the road isn't that big of a deal.
- threeseed 14y agoYou do know that plenty of people have given reviews on Glass ? None that I have seen predict that it will have mass-market appeal. Quite the opposite in fact. Many believe that they would wait for a 3rd generation version to truly decide on its potential.
- jaxomlotus 14y agoI own one. It's shit. Great idea which will ultimately have a place in society in some sleeker, more discreet and more responsive form,, but this iteration has some awful execution. It should not have gone to market yet. I don't know why Google rushed this out the door.