This was a bad year for Google Glass.
The creator of the augmented-reality bifocals has left Google for Amazon, the device remains out of reach for most consumers, and being lucky enough to score a prototype makes you just about as hip as a fanny pack these days.
Though Google has repeatedly stated its commitment to the project, it's time to face the harsh, unaugmented reality: 2015 will not be the year of Google Glass either, and it's probably time to put this project to bed.
Two-and-a-half years after Google promised the world a hands-free, screen-free fantasy, backlash against the company is growing. Techies dubbed the Glass beta-testers a certain impolite name not suitable for a family newspaper. A German artist wrote a computer program that shuts off Wi-Fi to Glass-wearing visitors. Bars and movie theaters in various cities have banned Glass, and websites such as Stop theCyborgs.org offer downloadable signs and merchandise to help people establish Glass-free zones. Pretentious, intrusive, and a $1,500 curiosity are just some of the ways that Google Glass has been described. Glass-wearers report being harangued in public because of the popular misconception that the device is always recording.
Google deserves credit for its novel, risky strategy of crowdsourcing the vision for a product that was not yet on the market. But as it turns out, Glass could have been successful if it had remained stealth for a few more years. Had Google waited for a generalized consumer release — and found a way to price the device just under $1,000 — it would have had the hottest innovation since the iPad. History would have dubbed Google as the forefather of wearable technology.
In its words, Google promised to change the world with a screen-free, augmented reality future. But in its deeds, Google seemed to focus that future on a small segment of the population — largely elites.
There are highly successful stories of Glass Explorers (aka beta-testers) — like the celebrity chef who uses them to record recipes, the paralyzed woman who uses Glass to help her be more independent — but those stories are overshadowed by a chorus of mockery that has even included shots from "The Daily Show."
Make no mistake: We are probably about a decade away from a world in which wearable devices will record nearly everything we do — and have the capability to replace many of the functions performed by smartphones. But it's looking less likely than ever that Google will lead the charge.
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