back to article Woz: Google Glass will be SO COOL... just like BLUETOOTH

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has likened Google Glass to a bluetooth headset, and voiced his doubts that anyone will stick with it for more than a few weeks. Speaking to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, Woz said that Google Glass would go the way of the notorious biz guy headset, which is now only seen on the ears of a select …

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  1. M Gale

    Except I have a stereo headset that has all the functions of an earpiece, but doesn't look like a twat-dongle. I guess it's public perception as well as looks.

    Didn't people cast doubts on the original Sony Walkman because nobody would want to walk around with headphones on?

    (Admittedly, I probably won't be buying Glass myself, but a related device... maybe.)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      WOZ

      He is beginning to sound like a dinosaur.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      twat-dongle

      Have an upvote.

    3. Piro Silver badge

      Original Walkman? But that was a different time. Bulky and ridiculous devices were en vogue.

      Ghetto blasters, oh yes. How I wish they made a comeback. Well built, loud, bassy ghetto blasters.

      I guess they wouldn't be green enough today, because they used to go through D cell batteries in an extraordinarily ravenous rate.

      1. cheveron

        D cell batteries?

        I thought you were supposed to wire it up to a streetlight.

        1. Dave 126

          Re: D cell batteries?

          >I guess they wouldn't be green enough today, because they used to go through D cell batteries in an extraordinarily ravenous rate.

          They used to, but today have very power-efficient Class D amplifiers.

          However, the only ghetto-blaster like things I've seen in the wild in recent years have been amongst builders. DeWalt make ruggedised stereos that take their power from 18v power-tool batteries, and include a waterproof compartment for your MP3 player to sit in.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Pairing a device is too complex...

      Frankly, I found much more funny people walking with large stereo headphones connected to a smartphone...

      I use a bluetooth headset every day while driving or even when I have to talk on the phone hands free, and maybe away from the phone. Instead fighting with headset cables, it's far more comfortable - and now there are models that can connect to two phones at once (useful if you have a company phone and a personal one - which I do because I do not want to have my personal data on a company-controlled phone).

      Frankly I never understood why Bluetooth headset didn't become much more common - I guess the issue is most people buying a phone - smart or not - can't really use it. Pairing a device is beyond their skills. And after all you have to show off your phone... keeping it in a pocket while speaking using the headset won't do it.

      1. ItsNotMe
        WTF?

        Re: Pairing a device is too complex...

        "Frankly I never understood why Bluetooth headset didn't become much more common - "

        Simple answer...people look absolutely asinine walking around with those protuberances.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Pairing a device is too complex...

          Just don't walk around wearing it. I can easily get out it of a pocket and answer. And it is clever driving while holding a phone with one hand?

          But why people think it is cool walking around with big stereo headset? I find it really silly. But I've seen people thinking Bluetooth headset should work automatically out of the box. Because reading instruction is not cool, they can't pair them, and if they could, they don't know what commands they can use.

          Well I see many people with expensive cars and phones that can't pair them...

  2. ratfox

    Apple Newton also comes to mind

    Not really successful, but first in an explosion of PDAs. Of course, they are called smartphones now.

    1. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: Apple Newton also comes to mind

      No, a PDA was a smartphone w/o the portable Internet connection. Huge difference.

  3. Frankee Llonnygog

    On the spectrum of coolness

    There's cool at one end, and Woz at the other. Steve - here's a hint: when people are pointing at you in the street and smiling, it's not in admiration.

    Segway, multiple phone holsters, bum bag, Google Glass... does this sound like a cool person? More like one of those joke police tasked with catching speeding rollerbladers

    1. ratfox
      Devil

      Re: On the spectrum of coolness

      On the spectrum of coolness, there is a guy who has founded a very successful company by creating its first best-selling computers. And much lower on the spectrum, there are people who make fun of him because he uses a bum bag.

      1. Dave 126

        Re: On the spectrum of coolness

        I like Woz's Nixie tube wristwatch.

        http://www.cathodecorner.com/nixiewatch/

        I also like a company who put negative comments about their products on their own homepage:

        “If I wanted to buy a watch that guaranteed I would never get laid, I certainly wouldn't have to spend that much on it.”

        —random Slashdot comment

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: On the spectrum of coolness

        And much lower on the spectrum, there are people who make fun of him because he uses a bum bag.

        I think you'll find it's pronounced fanny pack

        1. M Gale

          Re: On the spectrum of coolness

          In American.

          In English (and possibly Australian), it's "Bum Bag".

  4. MArnold

    I just don't see this really taking off. The virtual reality aspect is cool, but honestly, they shouldn't have cut out porn apps. If they really wanted this to sell, they shouldn't have put porn restrictions on it.

  5. Dave 126

    Not on the street, but maybe the workshop

    In the workshop I don't care what I look like (I'll probably already be in paint spattered boiler suit), and I have a need for eye protection.

    Whilst measuring, a voice memo or or voice dictation facility would be useful, and whilst cutting a display of dimensions could be handy. Capturing videos or stills hands-free would be good in that environment.

    That said, videos wouldn't be useful for general viewing, since the head-mounted camera would be moving around all the time.

  6. Eddy Ito

    "it’s like Bluetooth earphones: everyone wears them for a couple of weeks and then they take them out."

    So that boils down to what? $500-700 per week. At that price it will only be the folks with more dollars than sense who buys one and uses it for a few weeks.

    FTFM

    At that price it will only be the folks with more dollars than sense who buys one.

  7. Stephen Gray

    Product without a market

    It's possible that some peeps will use them just as some peeps buy Apple products but it's illegal to use them whilst driving and you look a twerp if you're walking around with them on. I suspect the Woz is right.

  8. Sheep!

    I love my twat dongle

    I use my bluetooth headset all the time. Don't give a shit how stupid it looks (it doesn't). The whole point (or so I am led to believe) of technology is to make things easier to do, using my headset and not having to have 6 inches of phone clamped to the side of my face leaves both my hands free (not to mention reduces the risk of some git snatching it and running off), which is just a sensible thing to do. If people make life harder for themselves just because they don't want to risk not looking "cool" then they've kind of missed the point of the technology in the first place. I imagine the same will be true Glass.

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