Is Google Glass Dead?

Remember Google Glass? Not much is being said about Google’s augmented reality headset these days, which is putting a bad taste in the mouths of investors, customers, and developers alike.

On Friday, claims hit the internet that even the developers who stood to make money from the high-tech glasses have given up on their projects entirely.

According to Reuters, more than half of the 16 developers interviewed have abandoned their plans to produce software for Google Glass. Cited among the reasons why were a lack of customer interest, poor hardware specifications, and more money to be made focusing on enterprise software instead. It was also reported that the first units to go on sale to the general public won’t hit store shelves until next year, nearly a full two years after Google began selling Google Glass to members of its “Explorer” program, each of which paid a whopping $1,500 for each set.

The good news for Google is that Glass is only a small part of their future, one that was always known to be a risky endeavor. Google’s mobile operating system, Android, currently has a stranglehold on the mobile marketplace, owning approximately 86 percent of all devices worldwide.

Likewise, Google.com still remains the top search engine among all others, even having a spot in the English lexicon with “Googling.”

However, this isn’t the first time one of Google’s pet projects has failed. Sales of Google’s Chromebooks have nearly hit rock bottom, offering little to sway users from lower-priced, Windows-based netbooks, two-in-ones, and Android, Windows, and iOS tablets.

Google Glass has been haunted by criticism from nearly the beginning, anyway. The term “Glasshole” came about after users of Google Glass were getting thrown out of bars, pulled from movie theaters under suspicions of piracy, and even ticketed by police for distracted driving. Knowing that the devices have a forward-facing camera that the user can activate with little more than a brush of the finger against the control pad on the side gave people an uncomfortable feeling, and seemed to be a beacon for perverts.

In fact, Google had to go so far as to post a series of instructions on how to avoid being creepy, and they hired a former Calvin Klein executive to try to add a little high-fashion buzz to Glass. But let’s face it, Google Glass never looked very chic.

Maybe Google is just ahead of the curve by too much. Smartwatches are all the rave right now, and Google does have Android Wear, but maybe people just aren’t ready to strap a computer to their heads.

Yet.

What are your thoughts on Google Glass?

[Image courtesy of Google]