keeping up with the joneses

So Google Glass came out for sale to the public for one day.  Instead of jumping on the bandwagon I blinked.

I’ve been excited about the possibilities that wearable computer technology poses.  Really it’s an inevitable step forward that is going to come one way or the other.

Wearable communications have been in the public imagination since the days of the Dick Tracy comic back in the 30s.  The idea of having communications gear that you could wear makes sense.  Having to carry a cell phone, even the tiny ones available today, can be a hassle at times.

The wearable computer has had a longer and harder road.  Back in the 2000s some folks at some big universities got laughs as they outfitted themselves with headband cameras, and slings carrying clunky batteries and laptops as well as arm mounted keyboards.  They looked ridiculous but the idea was sound.  To allow a user to access computing power on the go.

Smartphones like the Iphone were the next step.  The communications infrastructure had to do some catching up but I think we’re getting there.  Still, carrying and consulting a device that you have to take out and store or that can be lost or stolen is limiting.

What developers are trying to get to is what is called augmented reality.  Being able to use technology to see the world in a new way with more context and more information at your beck and call.  You can currently do this on some smartphones with some programs but it’s very limited in scope and of course you have to point the smartphone at the object.

Getting back to Google Glass, I don’t think that they’re quite there yet.  I think that the technology can be improved, the available bandwidth from carriers can’t quite yet support the information needs of people, and lastly I don’t think that the programs are there to support the full potential that these devices represent.

In short I don’t see the positive argument for participating in Google Glass yet or for that fact in any wearables at the moment.  But the fact that Google Glass is going for $1500 at the moment makes it particularly unappealing to me.  Just too much money for something that will be vastly improved upon in the near future.

And wearables are the future.  But the future isn’t quite here yet.  I will let this opportunity go for now and quietly watch from the sidelines and cheer for any successes.