Google Glass was projected by Google to be as popular as the iPod, but what went wrong? Critics claim that the product failed because it was simply not cool, a measure that is difficult to scientifically calculate. Google tried to integrate their product, a type of wearable technology with an optical head-mounted display, into things like Fashion Week in an attempt to frame it as a relevant piece of technology. The glasses, developed by Google with the mission of producing a mass-market wearable computer, display information in a smartphone-like hands free format where the wearer communicates with the Internet via voice commands. On January 15th, Google announced that it would stop producing Google Glass, but remained committed to the development of the product. Google Glass failed because it did not liberate people or help them to become individuals, but instead seemed to promote conformity, which is the antithesis of cool.
Contributor: Johanna Hartman