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Google Glass is a very exciting piece of technology. You can tell by our extremely exhaustive Google Glass review that we’re as excited about it as anyone. However, it appears not everyone will be lining up in droves to buy the smart glasses Google has produced. A new survey of 1,000 people conducted by BiTE Interactive suggests only 1 in 10 people would consider wearing Google Glass regularly.
Of those who said they wouldn’t wear them, 45% said it was due to the device’s looks and because they seem too irritating to leave on — they’re not quite as charming as some would hope (though the shades attachment makes it look a bit more bearable if you’re that type of person). Also, 38% of those who wouldn’t wear them say that the price isn’t a factor, with BiTE noting that even a considerably cheaper price point than what the $1,500 the Explorer Editions are currently going for wouldn’t entice them to buy them.
It’s worthy to note that most people aren’t being resistant because they don’t think they technology is cool — it just isn’t right for them. For those who want to wear them, 44% said they’re mostly interested in taking photos. About 37% of those wanting Glass are looking to get a lot out of video. 39% said phone calls are an important factor, as well.
BiTE’s Vice President of Operations Joseph Farrell says the biggest hurdle for most people is the fear of social rejection. Some might be hesitant to buy them because they don’t want people to assume they’re recording video every time the Glasses are on their head, or perhaps they fear getting turned away at a bar or a club.
It’s a fair point to make, but the world won’t get used to stuff like Google Glass unless a few people are brave enough to break it in. Let’s hope that’ll happen by the time the devices are publicly available early next year. Will you be among those trying to break Google Glass in or will you hold off to see how, exactly, they fit in modern society? Vote and leave a comment!
[polldaddy poll=7105260][polldaddy poll=7105260]
[via Mashable]
It’s all I can do to keep my wife from running out and buying them off ebay
10% is a pretty large amount of people. I am excited to at least try it out.
The main reason why I wouldn’t wear Glass after having bought them is not social rejection….it’s that with most new things I tend to be OVERPROTECTIVE of it….can’t have something as fragile as glass (lower case) be subjected to every situation just yet……needs getting used to :D
For now it’s a dork gadget. When they become integrated with regular glasses and less obvious it’s a recording device, I may go for it. Eventually they’ll design as a true HUD embedded in lens of normal glasses. I’ll check out the first iteration though.
I’d like to see a version where the CPU/battery are attached to a string/cable that go behind glasses along back, like how people will put reading glasses on a string. Would make it less bulky on glasses themselves.
Privacy is a concern though. Yeah, you can get spy cam glasses today but something like this may become ubiquitous. It changes cultural behavior when the masses are recording everything constantly.
It’s not even officially out yet so I think this survey is somewhat silly. Most people don’t stay up to date with the latest tech before it comes out. It’s not an anticipated thing yet like other things that have settled in their ways already. 10% is a great portion for something that’s not out yet I think anyways.
10% is 30 million people.
this is a fairly useless poll. Im sure 10% of people would consider switching to a TV when it first came out. theres no way to predict how ubiquitous this stuff will be until its out.
Yes – if I wanted the hackers to see everything in my life and get my ass kicked in the streets. To be clear, I don’t want eiher or those things… not to mention the horrible usability of this thing if it’s supposed to be a smartphone killer.
Technically it’s supposed to be a smartphone companion, not killer.
Maybe when it is a little better designed….and cheaper.
If I regularly wore prescription glasses every day it would be a no-brainer. So I would get them, but I probably wouldn’t wear them all the time.
Medical reasons are exactly why I can’t wear it. On the other hand, I think they should be banned in majority of places, at least where cameras are not allowed.
I would wear them nearly all of the time.
There should be an option that reads “I’d have to try it out first”.
Additionally, I wear prescription glasses. Anyone know if they have that worked out yet?
http://phandroid.com/2013/03/12/google-glass-prescription/
Yep, I think as apps and other useful features develop and the size comes down, I think most people will use them.
I can see this helping with a very persistent problem that I have, remembering peoples’ names. I’m terrible at it, and a bit of facial recognition paired with my contact list would do wonders.
If they folded away, and were sexier. Unless women dig the cyclops xmen look.
Same percentage probably said they’d never wear a bluetooth earpiece when they first came out… of course, the legislators helped sway opinion with their distracted driving laws…
Glass explorers edition is like the g1… beautiful in concept. I bet the next version or versions will be much more sleek. I’d wear either.
I’m betting on the same thing. I will buy either second or third gen. Definitely not buying first gen.
Sort my take too. This is a 1.0 tech. The next couple of versions will be cheaper and have orders of magnitude more utility and they’ll probably come relatively quickly. I’ll let someone else drop $1K+ to be an early adopter of something that’ll look retarded by comparison from a style standpoint and be leapfrogged in functionality in very short order.
I don’t see the point. It’s a very interesting device, but I don’t see myself using it every day. The usage I would get out of it wouldn’t justify the price. My smart phone can do everything this device does AFAIK so
I would wear them now if I had them all day long….LOL
1. They’re ugly in their current iteration. 2. I have absolutely all of the information it provides on my smartphone already. The only functionality that this thing has this far is being a GoPro replacement.
And every single person that continues to look at their phone while having a conversation with someone will be mocked and ridiculed as a troglodyte.
And your eyes drifting off to the upper right is better? I would think a large contraption on your face would be much more distracting than a quick look down in between conversation. A smart watch, yes, this thing, never.
There is no such thing as a quick look down….as I see every day on the damn highway where the car in front of me is drifting off their lane because they are “looking” down a little too frequently. I dare say just about everyone has seen this.
Large contraption? The thing is only slightly bigger than most people’s eyeglasses.
Maybe 10% for this prototype model… wait until it is integrated into eyewear of almost any style.
FYI, 10% is still 31 million people.
More than that. The 300Million number, is US citizens. So imagine how many non-citizens there are in the states, such as legal aliens, and illegal aliens, student VISA’s, diplomats.
Why do Americans always assume that they’re the only people on the planet?
Title of the article: only 10% of Americans would wear Google Glass.
i will wear the HELL out of glass…
Everything comes from the 10%. Games? 10% or less used to play them. “lol”, “lmao”, etc., 10% or less used to talk like that. Smart phones, 10% or less had the originals. I agree with the others tho, the G1 was the first Android and it wasn’t all that special yet. The next edition of the glasses should be more mainstream.
“99% of survey respondents didn’t know what the hell we were talking about, and we had to explain what Google Glass was to them.”
I’m sure I’ll purchase a pair one day.
This poll is poorly worded. By putting loaded language via declaratory statements about the respondent into the response selections, you are guaranteed to skew results. Yes. No. Maybe/Sometimes. Would be much better if you actually cared about what the answer was.
Agree! Skewed polling.
Joseph Farrell, it may also be that $1500 dollars is a determent to most, I know it is to me.
$29.95, tops $49.95 for this device is about right, not $1500 bucks.
Missing poll option:
[X] Yes, but only after it shrinks in size so it’s not at all noticeable
I already wear glasses, so this device would obstruct my ability to see.
I’d wear them
A lot of the same was said of blue tooth devices.
That’s different. Bluetooth headsets don’t pose a privacy risk for anyone. And how common is it anymore? Most people I know despise Bluetooth headsets. I think I’ve only seen one person wearing one in the past 10 years.
I said no, because I want to respect other peoples’ privacy and not have everyone around me be uncomfortable because they might be being recorded. I don’t walk around holding a video camera in everyone’s face and this is too similar to that.
I’d wear it if I were given a free pair. I can’t say that I’ll actually buy one for myself. Would that be ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the poll?
That will change when we’re a few generations in and they have a sleeker and smaller design.
si esta a un precio considerable, lo compraría.
It’s way to early to ask that question, nobody knows how well the technology will work when it gets to the third and fourth generation. The rev 0 version doesn’t sound particularly useful, maybe it’s good enough for heads up navigation display, maybe it’s not quite there yet, but it isn’t much use for anything else. However I can imagine what a future version might be able to do. Assume that a future version might be as readable as a large desktop monitor, that would be a game changer. Phones have been getting uncomfortably big because they have to trade off the ease of reading the screen, which requires a big screen, with the ability to hold the device in your hand which wants a small device. The trouble is that a 5″ 1080p display isn’t nearly as good for web browsing as a 24″ desktop display even though it has the same number of pixels. At the same time a 5″ phone is much less comfortable to hold than the old flip phones. If a glasses based display could replace the phone’s display then the phone could shrink to a much smaller size, maybe even wristwatch size. If that happens everyone will want them.
Maybe I’m just a debbie downer, but I really just don’t see the point in them. Sure it’s cool, but I have no use for it.
Please see visual comment.
No No thank you