What happened to…. Google Glass?

On this episode of What happened to…?, Erica Vella revisits Google Glass — the product that sparked curiosity, protests and internet memes around the world. She speaks with one of Wired’s gadget reporters, Mat Honan, about the controversial pair of smart glasses.

Ten years ago, Google launched Google Glass – a $1,500 product built like a pair of glasses.

Google Glass’s headset offered a display and built-in camera, allowing users to see information and capture images of their environment.

Mat Honan was part of the first wave of people to get his hands on Google Glass. As one of Wired’s gadget reporters, he was eager to try them out.

“People were really curious about it,” Honan said. “But this was a different kind of curiosity.”

The product generated a lot of buzz — at first. But as Big Tech and Silicon Valley started changing San Francisco, the product received some backlash.

“This is when the beginning of the, I think we now call the techlash, was happening,” Honan said. “People had been protesting the Google Glass and there was a lot of growing resentment.”

Tech journalist Quinn Myers said initially, the product was only available to a small number of people. Because of the privileges and expenses associated with the product, he said wearers became known as “glassholes.”

“Eventually that snowballs into internet memes being that only white men wear Google Glass,” he said. “That was a major, major mistake because it just so perfectly brought together the idea that these people are a–holes and associated them with Google Glass.”

Honan said the public’s negative perception of the product fuelled its downfall.

“It became perceived as such a marker of elitism,” he said. “It was never going to be able to get past that.”

But Myers said Google Glass’s technology didn’t live up to people’s expectations, either.

“Even the glass explorers, who are very passionate about it and wanted this technology to work, they realized, ‘Oh, this is not what I like,’” Myers said. “’Why did I pay so much money for this?’”

Even so, Honan said Google Glass paved the way for future wearable makers.

“I was honestly struck by its usefulness. It was to help you have all of these notifications and navigational features that you might use your phone for, but also ground you more in the real world. And I think that’s still what a lot of wearable makers are doing,” Honan said.

On this episode of What happened to…?, Erica Vella revisits Google Glass – the $1,500 pair of futuristic glasses. She speaks with tech journalist Quinn Myers about the product’s rise to fame and eventual downfall.