Android OS developers recently announced they would not be selling Google Glass any longer, starting January 19th. The reason behind the withdrawal has not been explicitly stated by the company; however, industry experts have gotten to the bottom of the whole situation.
Apparently, as is always the case with new technologies, developers found it very difficult to work with Google Glass, terming the device “limited” in terms of functionality and power. Hence, they started to withdraw from the development of software for Glass altogether, leaving only a handful of developers working on building apps for the device. This was considered a setback by the company, as Glass requires applications to work because Glass’ performance depends on how good its apps are.
Another case against the Glass – the strongest one – is the privacy claims that many restaurants and people have made against the device. As the device is equipped with a rear-end camera to record and capture anything with simply a voice command, it becomes very hard to detect whether a wearer of the piece of technology is recording a particular scenario or taking a picture of another person without his/her permission. This raised a huge question of privacy with the device, with some restaurants and public places explicitly declaring the device ‘banned’ within their premises.
A project of Google X, Google Glass has now been withdrawn by the company. However, the move seems to have been too easy for the company to make. Is Google really unaffected by the reversal of the Glass?
It seems the company is one which looks forward, as far as its projects are concerned, and is swift in its decision making to avoid potential losses. Analyzing growing concerns and limitations with the device, Google dumped the device in order to avoid any further costs with its development, which the company would’ve incurred either in software development charges or legal charges.
But then, why create Google Glass at all? Why take the risk? According to sources close to the company, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin opened the Google X division with the intention to create new innovative pieces of technology, the same division under which Google Glass was developed. The technology which was to be built under Google X was supposed to be unique and a trend-setter, not one built with the consumer demand in perspective. Google Glass was built in that spirit, to try something new with all technology could achieve. According to industry analysts, Google anticipated the risks involved with the production of Glass, and did plan to abandon it if it became too problematic to produce and/or support.
The Google X division, however, is not limited to Glass. Driverless cars and global internet balloons are just some projects NASDAQ:GOOGL is developing under the division, and their development has not been stunted amidst the setback suffered by Google with the withdrawal of the Google Glass. Google, it seems, will keep on innovating, and its large cash reservoir will continue to support its many failures in the future as well.
