From the countless emails we are receiving, it looks like Google is pumping out Google Glass invites to a lot of folks. The majority of the emails from readers we receive are asking our opinion on if the $1500 price tag for Glass is worth it. Let’s be real, $1500 is a lot of cash to some people, so it is important to know exactly what you are getting for your money if you plan on dropping that amount to be an early adopter of this hardware.
We know that Google continues to near the public release of Glass, but there is no for sure date yet. We anticipate it will be in 2014, but whether it’s earlier or later in the year, your guess is as good as ours. On top of that, there is no word on what the price will be once made public. Will it resemble the outrageous $1500 for the Explorer units? Again, your guess is as good as ours. There has been speculation that the price could be cut way down in the range of $400, but other reports point to around $800+ for a unit. Unless you are a developer who plans on pumping out apps for the unit or just really love the idea of early adoption, you will need to ask yourself if you want to spend a higher price for essentially a beta device that is still not ready for mass consumption, when a retail unit at a much cheaper price could be right around the corner.
Allow us to speak from experience real quick – when Google allowed existing Explorers to send invites to friends a few weeks back, we were given the opportunity to buy Google Glass for $1500, thinking it would be a good idea for the site to have a pair just in case something came up that was important for us to cover. On top of that, Google labeled these as the “new” Google Glass, with updated hardware and software tweaks. We received Glass, unboxed it, wore it around for a day or so, and haven’t really touched it since. Sure, it has been a nice toy to show off to visitors and friends during the holidays, but for the most part, people are over it within a few minutes of use, and especially once they hear how much we paid for it.
Keep in mind that Kellen and myself are two guys dedicated to mobile technology, plus we love futuristic and fancy hardware. Yet, neither of us are developers, so when it comes to making real use of Google Glass, it has become clear that this isn’t exactly a product made for us. Or maybe we just need to explore this world more. Or maybe it just needs to grow as a product more. Or maybe it’s so new that even we (“them geek guys“) need to figure out how to fully utilize it.
If you are looking for some of the things we like, then we’ll point to the ability to take pictures and videos without using our hands as a clear number 1. It’s also very cool while using it as a navigation device when driving, attaching Google Now to it to see current weather and other cards, and even doing quick Google searches while out and about. Even the new Google Music integration works fairly well, assuming you want to use the $85 Glass ear buds with it. Glass in general, certainly brings a very interesting computing platform to your life, assuming your life is in need of having a computer strapped to your head.
Essentially what we’re saying is that if you really, really, need to be on the cutting edge of technology, have tons of extra cash laying around with nothing better to spend it on, and also don’t mind being the center of attention everywhere you go, then by all means use that invite you just received. It’s an exciting product no doubt, even if we haven’t found a way to fit it into our personal lives. But if you don’t have loads of unused cash and are already second guessing whether or not you should buy Glass, now might not be the optimal time. Again, we could have retail units at drastically different prices before long.
But those are simply our initial thoughts after spending some time with Glass, the real decision (as always) is up to you.
Let’s hear from the folks who received their invites – are you going to pick up Google Glass? If so, why? And if you decided against spending the $1500 for a unit, why do you think Glass isn’t worth it? Our hopes is that this post will allow potential buyers to have a clear view of whether or not they should go forward with the purchase or not.