Google Glass: What went wrong

In reality, of course, it doesn’t work that way. Just because you can build something doesn’t mean you should. Even if you cook up something cool and new and make it available, real people may still not want it.

Google seems to have stumbled on that simple fact last week. The tech world was surprised by an announcement that on January 19, Google Glass will be withdrawn from the marketplace. Sales didn’t catch fire. Apparently, people didn’t have much use for it. Google may have needed to stop and listen to the needs and emotions of people in the everyday world of consumers.

Good things certainly flowed from Google Glass. A mainstream conversation started about wearable tech, taking it out of the lab and thrusting it into the clutches of consumers. By pushing its agenda into this area, Google will help open the floodgates of products that deliver the promise of the Internet of Things.

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