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Anyone Can Buy Google Glass April 15

An anonymous reader writes "Starting at 9 a.m. ET on April 15 anyone in the US will be able to buy Google Glass for one day. From the article: 'This is the first time the device has been available to the general public. So far, the face-mounted computers have been sold only to Google "Explorers," the company's name for early adopters. At first only developers could buy Glass, but Google slowly expanded the program to include regular people. Some were hand-picked, others applied to be Explorers through Google contests by sharing what cool projects they would do if they had Glass.'"

20 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. No thanks by dreamchaser · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm often an early adopter of technology, but I'm not interested in this type of product until it's far more unobtrusive and obvious. I can perhaps see a time when having a HUD built into my glasses might be useful, and sure there are times when I wish I could snap a picture of something more quickly than I can by pulling out my phone, but I'm not about to pay $1500 for what amounts to a barely beta product. I won't even go into my concerns about all the data Google already gets from us.

    This one day sale stunt is just that, a stunt. They are testing the waters and trying to stimulate demand.

    1. Re:No thanks by houstonbofh · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It also crams the numbers of everyone with an interest into "first day sales" figures. Be ready for the April 17th "Google sells a bazillion Google Glass in one day!" articles.

    2. Re:No thanks by Wycliffe · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm often an early adopter of technology, but I'm not interested in this type of product until it's far more unobtrusive and obvious.

      I'm the exact opposite. I would be more likely to buy it if it was more obtrusive. More to the point, I see little function in a side monitor
      while on the other hand allowing sunglasses with full overlay I think has alot more potential. For instance being able to enhance the
      center line on the highway on dark rainy nights or show outlines of constellations at night. I can think of lots of cool uses for a full
      wraparound wearable HUD but that's not what google glasses is.

  2. TERMS AND CONDITIONS by Rhymoid · · Score: 3, Interesting
    1. You can "buy" Google Glass for one day only.
    2. Anyone can "buy" Google Glass, provided that they live in the United States of America.
  3. Re:And there was much rejoicing by houstonbofh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hooray for artificial scarcity!

  4. Cool by kruach+aum · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Google glass seems like a really cool technology to me. It's weird that I have to qualify that statement with "and I mean this unironically."

    1. Re:Cool by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      10 years ago, I guess everyone here would have chimed in.

      But, ya know, in the meantime we had NSA, Snowden and Web 3.0 (2.0 was "you make the content, we make the profit", 3.0 is now "you ARE the content, we sell your soul"), stuff like that tends to make wary.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  5. To little, too late. by VortexCortex · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Translation: "This is how you advertise a product as elitist." or "Shh, mobile enabled VR & AR gear does not exist yet!"

    Sorry, don't care Google. I'll just keep developing for the 3D VR and AR gear I already use daily with my smart-phone, rather than pay for the over-priced less capable system Google's selling. When Google finally gets around to pushing out a run of hardware that is publicly accessible then I might port some software I personally use in my business to the platform it if it's not completely shit, and there is a market share to warrant the expenditure. I'm not holding my breath for something that is little more than vapor-ware.

    Besides, that initial rejection of 3rd party apps for glass really turned me off, it seems they got the message but it doesn't bode well. Will I be able to use Glass apps with the Oculus Rift, or MS or Sony's offering, or Vuzix or True Player Gear, or the other umpteen hundred VR and AR headsets, many of which I've been using since the 90's when Quake and Descent came out, which STILL didn't attract a market? I don't think hardware should be tied to software, or that software should be tied to hardware needlessly. If that's the route Google wants then they can go fuck themselves. I already have AR and VR headsets for Android, and they work with iOS, Linux and Windows too.

    Release a product or don't. This carrot dangling makes the Glass team seem like a bunch of incompetent self-important elitist sperglords.

  6. Hey look what I bought by istartedi · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Hey, look what I bought. I used my tax refu--"

    And the next thing he knew, he woke up in an alley. His wallet, keys, phone and shoes were missing. For the life of him, he could not figure out why they didn't take his cool new toy.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  7. Re:And there was much rejoicing by fiziko · · Score: 2

    Google Glass may not bring about the end of privacy, but it's part of the problem. This is proprietary garbage, so you don't even know what it's doing. Anyone who buys it is a damn fool.

    You aren't a damn fool just because you've bought one. Buying one just means you are curious and somewhat affluent. The "damn fool" part only kicks in if the thing is on and being worn while, say, doing Internet banking. As a teacher, I could see this being very beneficial to something like distance instruction, as it would be much more liberating than either teaching on a single whiteboard or depending on a third party camera person.

    --
    - W. Blaine Dowler
    http://www.bureau42.com
  8. And this is why I won't get Glass by Khyber · · Score: 3, Informative

    This Masonic exclusivity bullshit is the exact reason I got turned off of Glass in the first place.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    1. Re:And this is why I won't get Glass by Goody · · Score: 2

      Making people pay $1500 to be their beta tester is a bit ballsy, though. Of course if you have customers who are dumb enough to pay for a half-baked and potentially buggy beta product that will be superseded by a new model in six months, have at it.

      --
      Tired of being "punished" by the Slashdot $rtbl since 2002. I'm now over at http://soylentnews.org/ .
  9. A fight with a bunch of Chowdaheads in Glass by smittyoneeach · · Score: 2

    Would that be a hassle with a passle of Masshole Glassholes? Asking for a poet.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  10. Re:how many Glassholes will get mugged? by mark-t · · Score: 4, Insightful

    but violence is fun. there aren't any laws against being an asshole so too many fucks can go around legally bullying everyone and there's nothing you can do about it legally.

    You can ask them to stop... or you can go somewhere that the owner can tell the glasshole to get lost or be charged with trespassing.

    the only recourse these days is to kick someone's teeth in and wipe the smug look off their face.

    When violence becomes the "only recourse" to something that is not, by itself, physically threatening in any way, one may want to consider whether or not there is something already seriously wrong with their own world view.

    It's absolutely no different than those who have gone around killing nonbelievers in the name of religion.

  11. Re:And there was much rejoicing by AK+Marc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Progress as in change, not necessarily as in "moving forward", as that is only defined later, as "forward" is the path to a destination, and until you get to that destination, you don't know if you were going forward or backward at any point in time.

    I am old enough to remember the same sorts of arguments against PCs. They were toys for the elite yuppies, and would never be useful for the poorer people.

    You are just jealous. Why all the hate?

  12. Re:confused by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 2

    You should have gone with glass.google.com, since google.com is the only domain any sane person would expect to find google products.

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  13. Anyone can buy Google Glasses right now, cheap. by Animats · · Score: 2

    Anyone can buy Google Glasses right now on eBay. The going rate is about $1100. Google Glass "invitations" have been for sale on eBay for months. The going rate is about $50.

    As an "exclusive launch", this is a flop. There have been XBox and Sony PSn launches where pre-order prices exceeded list price. Google Glasses are already selling at a discount before the launch. This thing is overpriced. It needs to launch at $995, and that will only hold until Samsung starts shipping.

    1. Re:Anyone can buy Google Glasses right now, cheap. by Barlo_Mung_42 · · Score: 2

      Price isn't even the main sticking point with me. I recently paid someone a lot of money to burn off bits of my eyes with a laser precisely so I wouldn't have to wear glasses... and it was the best money I've ever spent. There's no way I'm paying another grand to get glasses back no matter how cool they are.

  14. Triumph of marketing hype by JustNiz · · Score: 3, Funny

    wow I'm amazed that so many people are sooo desperate to pay a staggering $1500 just for a beta version of a head mounted camera that freaks other people out and makes you look like a twat. I think I'll save $1500 and just duct tape my phone to my forehead.ï

  15. Re:And there was much rejoicing by DrXym · · Score: 2
    Yes glass is potentially useful for certain roles e.g. order fulfilment in a warehouse (meaning someone can have both hands free), or your remote learning. But as a general purpose device, it is lacking any reason for existing. So I can take a picture or do a search without taking a phone out of my pocket? So what? Instead I have to talk issuing instructions to it like some crazy person to make it work. Worse than that, it invites open hostility from people it is pointed at who quite reasonably wonder if I am taking a picture of them, or if my attention is on them or the screen in front of my eye.

    It reminds me of Segways and bluetooth headsets. Some technologies simply rub people up the wrong way. They might find themselves a niche to exist in but they're very unlikely to ever enjoy public acceptance.