[VengefulCynic]

To my mind, the Google Glass is far more like the Microsoft Tablet, the Tesla Roadster and the Palm Treo: the initial realization of a concept that, before now, didn't exist in the world at all. It seems incorrect to compare it to the iPhone and the iPad because both of those were taking technology that had existed in the tech community for years and reimagining them in a way that appealed to the general public.

As a member of the tech community, I'm excited and looking forward to getting Glass for myself, but I don't see widespread adoption to the scale that the non-tech community can handle until we've innovated at least some of the uses and worked out the 1.0 bugs.

[andrewescott]

Perhaps Glass should be compared with the Sony Walkman (which may be a bit before the time of some of those on HN). When Sony introduced the Walkman, they also invented portable headphones. Because no-one wore headphones around in public before, there was a huge stigma relating to doing so. In particular, in Japan, ear-wear was associated with deafness and hence old people. So, Sony embarked on a mass media campaign to change the perception of wearing headphones, by showing attractive models wearing them, roller-skating with them, etc. They made them cool for youth to wear, rather than dorky.

If Google can also change the idea of electronic eye-wear from Borg-like to babe-magnet, then they may be onto a winner.

- for both male and female babes.

[WiseWeasel]

This sounds like a good strategy; perhaps taking on GoPro and making rugged models for extreme sports, with an emphasis on video recording and live video webcasting.

[DanBC]

> Google Glass is [...] the initial realization of a concept that, before now, didn't exist in the world at all.

I don't understand. Heads up displays have existed in various forms for years. We've had versions that cover one eye, or that use lasers onto the retina.

[robryan]

And I never see anyone using one of these technologies in public as part of their everyday lives. We see it time and time again that technologies that have existed in one form or another for some time really take off when they are packaged in an attractive and consumer friendly form.

[untog]

The concept isn't just the technology. This is the first time such technology has ever been considered for a consumer application.

[blhack]

No, it isn't, it's just the first time that you're hearing about it because it's the first time that the tech has been pointed at your particular subset of consumer.

[untog]

Alright, what other consumer products like Google Glass have been released?

[blhack]

http://www.reconinstruments.com/

http://www.oakley.com/airwave

[alxhill]

This is very much specialised stuff however - would you ever see your average consumer walk around in public with it? No - because these are ski goggles not normal glasses.

[_delirium]

I'm not sure whether it's similar enough, but the "Private Eye", a wearable, monocular heads-up display, had a bit of niche success when it was introduced in 1989. Here's a contemporary blurb from Popular Science: http://www.popsci.com/archive-viewer?id=dwEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=...

[munificent]

Interesting, but fundamentally different.

Google Glass = head-mounted display + camera + access to the cloud

The Private Eye was just the first. It's like comparing an exercise bike to an actual ride-around-outdoors bicycle.

[DanBC]

Plenty of products exist. Google Glass is just a very very good iteration of existing tech.

(http://www.diginfo.tv/)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I0hF0cbw8E&feature=youtu...)

[jzwinck]

I'm reaching here, but: Nintendo's Virtual Boy.

[JumpCrisscross]

It's the first time it's being jacked into something like Google. The iPod wasn't as revolutionary as iPod + iTunes. The union of the heads up display with Google's software is similar to how the Apple II, while not the first microcomputer, is the first one that mattered.

[markdown]

> Macs, while not the first PCs, were the first PCs that mattered

SMH

[InclinedPlane]

Jumbotron displays have existed for decades too, that doesn't mean that it's the correct display technology for day to day use.

[jpalomaki]

Google glasses is not just about the heads up technology. I think equally important is the content they will be pushing in front of your eyes.

In order for this to be useful, you need to be providing very personalized information. And Google is in perfect position to provide this. They get under your skin via Google Searc, GMail and Google Calendar and can the supplement this with information mined from web.

[mietek]

Please let me know where can I buy a personal retinal projection display today. Preferably, without having to mortgage my house.

[MaysonL]

Buy or build, what a decision: http://eclecti.cc/hardware/blinded-by-the-light-diy-retinal-...

See also: "Retinal projection displays for accommodation- insensitive viewing", Ph.D. thesis

http://e-collection.library.ethz.ch/eserv/eth:27769/eth-2776...

[hnriot]

The Treo was not new, the Blackberry already did everything the Palm did years before.

[wtallis]

Nope. The Treo 180 was the first Treo that had phone capabilities, and it was released in 2002. The first BlackBerry that had phone capabilities was also released in 2002, but the first BlackBerry that didn't require an external headset to talk with wasn't released until 2003. BlackBerry was in no way years early to the smartphone market - they just approached it from a different angle.

[fpgeek]

Don't forget the Handspring Visors and Compaq iPAQs that could be turned into smartphone-equivalents with the appropriate add-ons. Those came even earlier.

[jimzvz]

I agree but why is the tesla roadster in that list?

[ricardobeat]

Surface and Treo are not the best examples either. His definition of "didn't exist in the world" is getting mainstream recognition.

Relevant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle...

[rangibaby]

I think he means oldschool(!) tablet PCs, not the Surface.

[ricardobeat]

oh, I'm sorry. Surface was the name of the table-sized touchscreen, now called PixelSense, it got repurposed for the tablet line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_PixelSense#Microsoft_...