Glass Is Dead, Long Live Glass

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Dan Lyons

01/16/15 07:43AM

Google will stop selling its dorky nerd glasses that nobody wanted. But Tony Fadell, the former Apple guy who created the Nest thermostat, has been put in charge of the Glass team at Google and apparently they are going to try again. Can't wait.

Dirk Wyse Dan Lyons 01/16/15 06:50PM

Does Sarah Slocum know about this?

Dan Lyons Dirk Wyse 01/17/15 02:29PM

She's organizing a civil rights march to protest Google's decision.

PatBateman Dan Lyons 01/16/15 09:27AM

Can't wait for Google Contact Lenses. And then, shortly after, Google SkyNet.

Dan Lyons PatBateman 01/16/15 09:32AM

Me too. I want the full Kurzweil. Implants everywhere. Then download my brain into a computer so I can live forever.

Ahem Dan Lyons 01/16/15 06:54PM

Wellllll, you'll only *think* that you're living forever.

OMG!PONIES! Dan Lyons 01/16/15 08:45AM

Becase Tony Fadell has had such success with Nest - the company with 440,000 recalled "smart" smoke detectors last year. But that's okay - because it wasn't a "real" recall (even though the Consumer Protection Safety Commission said it was).

Dan Lyons OMG!PONIES! 01/16/15 08:49AM

I actually bought one of those damn smoke detectors right before the recall that wasn't a recall. And because of that I never installed it because, well, obvious reasons. Now it's an expensive paperweight.

OMG!PONIES! Dan Lyons 01/16/15 09:23AM

I considered one - until the recall.

Then I realized something - I can turn the dial with my hands just fine. I don't need to adjust the thermostat from work. And I don't really need Google (or any company) in my house, collecting data on me. It's the same reason I won't get an Amazon phone. It's not that I'm worried about black helicopters. I just don't want to be commoditized any more than I am.

It's a moot point anyway. The house I bought had a programmable digital thermostat installed already. I can set a schedule on it (including a vacation schedule). It's not internet-connected but again - I don't need to fiddle with my thermostat while I'm at work.

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The way I see it, Google provides many good products. But it also provides a good number of solutions in search of a problem. Its problem is that those "solutions" are often in very crowded markets that have their own 800 lb. gorillas. The Nest smoke detector recall turned me off to them. Why would I buy a fancy smoke detector that had a problem right out of the gate from a new company when I can buy a First Alert smoke detector from Kidde, whose entire business for decades has been making smoke detectors? I wouldn't. I wouldn't buy a Google thermostat either when I can buy a Honeywell thermostat. I know that name and I trust that name.

And that's another problem. These are markets where things just don't get replaced that often. Smartphones get replaced every year. But smartphones only cost $200 (up front - obviously they cost more over the life). This was $1,500. Even though that's the unsubsidized cost - how exactly would it get subsidized and who would subsidize it?

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Plus, Glass isn't just in the consumer electronics market; it's in the glasses market. It's competing with every designer and with Warby Parker. Not to mention the add-on cost for prescription lenses (mine add $500 to the cost of every pair of glasses). $2,000 is a hefty chunk of change.

Glass wasn't a failure of innovation and engineering. Nor was it just a failure of behavioral psychology. It was a failure of market research. If you gross $72,000 per year, you net about $48,000. That's around $4,000 per month. The target demo - the Millennial urban gadget hound - lives in a city, probably rents, certainly has a smartphone and high-speed broadband, and definitely has student loans. So, start at $4,500 and deduct rent and utilities ($2,000), phone ($100), broadband ($100), and student loan payments ($800). That's $3,000 out of pocket per month and the person hasn't eaten, gotten dressed or gone to work. And that leaves $1,000 per month.

If you're Google need to convince this person to spend an entire paycheck on a gadget. That's a tall order.

Dan Lyons OMG!PONIES! 01/16/15 09:33AM

I do have 2 of the Nest thermostats and I like them. It was the smoke detector that I held off on installing.

mwittier Dan Lyons 01/16/15 09:57AM

I still have my Alta Vista Aviators. Now I'm just waiting for the Bing bow tie to wear with my Ask Jeeves ass chaps.