Ok Glass, Goodbye

It is with great regret I have said goodbye to my newfound cyborg part: Google Glass. I joined the Glass Explorer Program last month in hope of taking a step toward achieving my lifelong goal of becoming a human cyborg. When I signed up, I fully expected to see an early product. I also knew it would be hard to justify spending $1500 for the right to test an early pre-release product (“Warren, you don’t justify it. You rationalize it.”). But after a few weeks “on the Glass”, I concluded the technology is just too immature for me. So with a return shipping box from Google, my Glass is on the journey back home to Mountain View.

I walk away impressed with the ambition of Google in attempting to productize an advanced wearable such as Glass. Without a large technology stalwart forging the path, this product category could take 5+ more years to reach mainstream consumers. I was also impressed with many of the features of the device - e.g. voice recognition, text to speech, quality heads up display, and voice-driven search. But at the end of the day, I think this iteration of a headset wearable is still far from adding value into my life, or in the lives of my customers.

As a developer, I can overlook deficiencies in application-level software. Software can be fixed by motivated engineers. But it’s hard to overlook deficiencies in the envisioning of the product, its operating system, or its hardware.

So just as the Wright Flyer I represented an enormous human achievement for transportation, so too may Google Glass be recognized some day for its achievement in pioneering the extension of human intellectual / physical capabilities with wearables. But while I can celebrate the Wright Brothers' great milestone, you won't catch me taking a ride on it to my next business trip. ;)

I hope to be back “on the Glass” in 6+ months or so with a new iteration of the product. In the meantime: Ok Glass, Goodbye.

Attached is a picture of Glass on its way back home to Google, taken without a wink, and courtesy of my wife.