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Google Glass made its debut when nobody even knew the purpose of smart glasses and the co-founder has shared his feelings recently.
Google Glass came out a lot earlier than the market was ready
Google Glass came long before smart glasses were even considered a viable device for consumers. The company had Sergey Brin doing a Steve Jobs back in 2014, by bringing a product that nobody understood. Fast-forward to 2025, and you have Meta making smart glasses with Ray Ban and even Apple tipped to be entering the segment soon.
So what made Brin launch Google Glass a decade ago and why was it a flop?
The Google co-founder has finally admitted that Glass entered the race even before there was one. He claims the company may have been too easy with the product, and he thought this could be his “Steve Jobs moment”. “I think I tried to commercialise it too quickly,” Brin shared his views during an event recently. “I sort of, you know, jumped the gun, and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m the next Steve Jobs, I can make this thing. Ta da.,” he added.
His message was mostly related to planning for new innovations but more importantly, bringing them at the right time. Meta has clearly done the hard part of making a product like the glasses work, and with the AI infusion you have the ideal gadget to compete with smartphones.
In fact, if you think about it, smart glasses with a display can make so many applications work without having to take out the phone all the time. Meta has launched its own display smart glasses that are going to cost less than the iPhone 17 in the market when it releases in the next few months.
Google is doing its bit with Project Aura that will be powered by Gemini AI and guide you across cafes and even search the nearest gas stations, just by asking for it.
To be fair, the first-gen Google Glass looked more like a prototype which might have made sense in 2014 but the company would be hard pressed to justify that design nowadays. Brin is heavily involved in all these tasks over at Google, as admitted by Sundar Pichai during an interview earlier this year.
December 30, 2025, 07:40 IST
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