Google Glass: Will normal people really wear computerized specs?

The search giant wants us all to start walking around with a little computer strapped to our faces. It remains to be seen whether consumers will comply

A Google employee wears a pair of Google Glass specs during the company's Developers Conference on June 27: The high-tech glasses are expected to hit the market in 2014.
(Image credit: Mathew Sumner/Getty Images)

The endlessly hyped Google Glass line of computerized specs made major waves at last week's Google I/O conference when co-founder Sergey Brin showcased a thrilling video of he and a few fellow Googlers jumping out of a plane while wearing the glasses. (Watch the clip below.) Google is betting big on Google Glass — which will reportedly allow a wearer to use vocal commands to send instant messages, look up directions, snap photos, and video chat with friends — and seems intent on shaping a whole new product category from which it can immediately emerge as a market leader. The Android-powered specs won't come cheap: Early adopters will need to pony up $1,500 for an advanced pair, which are expected to launch sometime in 2014. But even when the price inevitably comes down and the hardware becomes less cumbersome, will normal people actually wear these glasses?

Absolutely. You're looking at the future: Sure, Google's digital glasses are "goofy," says Farhad Manjoo at Pando Daily. But so what? "A lot of technologies are goofy until they become ubiquitous." Talking on the phone, beaming the world a Facebook status, or writing a witty review for your neighborhood taco truck were all deemed socially awkward until those actions became a normal part of our everyday lives. Once everyone starts doing it, the "inherent goofiness" melts away. Wearable computers will become quite ubiquitous "sooner than you think."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up