Google Glass

Well that was a shocker. The children at Google couldn’t turn Google Glass into a real product. Not to worry, the company with the worst case of corporate ADD has already forgotten about it and is off chasing butterflies.

This isn’t a surprise and we saw it coming back in March. Google fell for what we in the analyst world call “shiny object syndrome.” Just because something seems like a cool idea doesn’t mean it is. The advantage of Google Glass wasn’t in displaying pages but in overlaying the virtual world onto the real world. Those applications didn’t appear. What we saw were static pages displayed for the wearer while everyone else in the room tried to guess what the wearer was paying attention too. To call it rude would be an understatement. Google Glass had potential, but it was so poorly executed it’s destined to be a Harvard Business School Case. Imagine a worker directing a tower crane and seeing the skeleton of the building as they move steel around. Imagine touring Boston with history overlaid on the real world and Yelp stars on restaurant doors keeping you from making a mistake and entering the Union Oyster House. I could go on. There are hundreds of great ideas that could have overcome the terrible geek factor and the entire Emily Post chapter on Google Glass etiquette that contains the single word “Never.” None of those ideas made it to market.

There’s still hope for Google Glass but it’s unlikely developers will invest without a market and buyers won’t buy without compelling applications. Without sales, will there be enough to justify a next generation of Glass? Doubtful.

I can’t wait for the Google self-driving car. This will be hysterical.