First Product Critique: Google Glasses

Numerous products fail to find a stable market. Google Glasses, which were launched in 2013, is the product failure that I will be examining. CBInsights has ranked Google Glasses at #14 in its “When Corporate Innovation Goes Wrong — The 132 Largest Product Failures Ever” report. I chose this product to investigate the reasons that the market didn’t accept it, as well as how it affected Google’s reputation. These glasses are safe to label a flop because they were unsafe, stylish, functional, and expensive.

Their eyewear was not up to the mark despite it being one of Google’s most searched engines. Despite all the consumer interest in the latest technology, the eyewear was lacking that distinctive factor. Safety is a concern that people have to be aware of. People take precautions before leaving devices around 24 hours a day. Imagine the discomfort caused by wearing eyewear powered by electricity. Many articles mention that Google Glasses are a threat to privacy and piracy.

Commerce

According to Community article, this could mean that someone sitting next to you at the subway station or at the next table might be taking a photo or footage of your face. This further raises the risk of others seeing the product as dangerous. The camera record function built into this device does not protect basic safety or identity. Recording one’s surroundings secretly can lead to crossing of ethical lines. This article mentions that the product could be exploited to record in cinemas. The glasses’ failure is evident from the fact that this was not supported commercially.

Creating something

Original: Craft

Paraphrased: Making something

From the consumer’s point of view, accessories design is essential. Successful products are pleasing to customers when they first contact them. Products that are not well-designed or meet customer expectations will eventually fail and be replaced by others. This applies especially to eyewear. The glasses must be able to aid in visuals and have a compelling design that will attract customers to purchase them. Because prescribed eyewear is worn on the eyes, people are more sensitive to how it looks and enhances their faces. The Google glasses’ design was perceived as intimidating due to its thick wiring and large camera attached to one lens. The visual impairment of the product not only affects consumers’ self-esteem when they wear large eyewear to replace their normal contacts or glasses, but also interrupts how people interact with one another. The product’s design is an indicator of how distracting it is from how they enhance their experience.

Consumers were most concerned about the product’s functionality. Each company has developed their product lines according to the needs of customers, rather than providing extensive customer support like Amazon or Apple. These two companies were able to improve the features of their products in each stage, which was a major advantage over the Google Glasses. These companies launched successfully because they fulfilled consumer needs or took advantage of the opportunities to exploit consumers’ demands after launch.

Google Glasses is not a product that meets a consumer’s demand. The article states that not all people want to wear Google Glasses. This is also the reason Google Glass didn’t succeed. It was clear that consumers didn’t know what this product was for. Because the purpose of the product was not clear, it did not meet the customers’ expectations. Depending on customer loyalty, features, quality, service etc. The willingness of consumers and other goods to be paid for varies.

It is common for companies to be able to set a price for their goods when they enter a new market. Google Glasses cost between $1000 and 1500, which is much more than the regular retail price of eyewear.

Cost Health article reports that prices can vary enormously depending on what type of frame, which lens, and which retailer is being sold. For those who don’t have insurance, glasses can be as low as $8 and up to $600. Name brand glasses can cost between $50 to $1,000. In this example, the maximum price of $600 is what consumers will actually pay. This is because these glasses are considered a necessity for impaired vision. While the glasses’ primary function is to aid impaired eyesight, it costs only $600. The base price allows consumers to customise the glasses by choosing from different brands, colors, and more. The primary function of the glasses is clear, as well as the possibility to customize it, so why would people spend nearly $1000 more on Google Glasses that have no role in their lives? Companies can raise prices to meet development costs and increase revenue. However, the cost of these glasses is too high. This was another reason why these Google Glasses failed to sell on the market.

These Google Glasses were created with a lot of research and development that was not wasted. Google should consider two areas. One is to change their target market. One is to expand their product or service offerings and find opportunities elsewhere using wearable technology. This does not necessarily mean that you should distribute the product to everyone. Instead, focus on a specific audience. This wearable technology may be useful to engineers, doctors, and computer scientists.

This product could be used to market specific roles. It can help engineers improve their precision or signal surgeons during surgery by providing a visual aid that allows them to zoom in and indicate. These are just two options when it comes to focusing on a specific audience. Google also recommends that they find other areas where this technology can be used, such as improving the customer experience on existing Google products (phones or laptops). This will allow them to stand out from the rest of the market. Instead of opening up this wearable tech to a market that is too difficult to understand and prohibitively expensive, they should look at areas where the technology can be modified. It doesn’t matter that these Google Glasses fell short of their investment expectations. This does not mean that all the Google products or services have been equally successful. Google Glasses’ unfortunate shortcomings aside, Google is still an important player in modern industry.