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News Google Glass hits the UK with new 2GB model

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 25 Jun 2014.

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  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Gareth Halfacree, 25 Jun 2014
    #1
  2. edzieba

    edzieba Virtual Realist

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    Price 100% expected. No reason that Glas would suddenly get a dramatic price drop for no particular reason.
    It's not a retail device, so unless you're actively developing an application for glass or a process that uses Glass then you should probably not be buying it (unless you have £1000 to burn).
     
    edzieba, 25 Jun 2014
    #2
  3. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Did you read the part of the article where Google promised it would sell Glass for less than £300 when it "became a retail product?"
    There's the rub. When Google was limiting Explorer applications to pre-invited people with $2K to burn, you could argue that it wasn't a retail product. Now, anyone can go on to Google Play and buy one. How is that not retail? If it is retail, which it clearly is, why isn't it the sub-£300 price Google originally promised?
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 25 Jun 2014
    #3
  4. Phil Rhodes

    Phil Rhodes Hypernobber

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    On one hand, well fine, you pay that sort of money for a widget, you know what you're getting into.

    On a more general level, this irritates me in much the same way as the Elite: Dangerous "premium beta" release, which is - er - not that great. It's OK, it has potential, but it's £100 for something that isn't done yet, which is an absurdity. I think the phrase "premium beta", which is what Google Glass is at this point, is an oxymoron - but it's becoming popular, even common.

    At some point this sort of bad feeling is why people didn't, for a long time, release stuff 'till it was done.

    P
     
    Phil Rhodes, 25 Jun 2014
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  5. Impatience

    Impatience Minimodder

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    +1 with it's a retail product!
     
    Impatience, 25 Jun 2014
    #5
  6. edzieba

    edzieba Virtual Realist

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    Anyone can go to Farnell (or the manufacturer) and order an FPGA development kit. Those sure as hell aren't retail products though!

    Like with the Elite Dangerous beta: if you want to cheaper retail version, wait for the cheaper retail version. "But I want it now!" isn't going to make development versions cheaper.
     
    edzieba, 25 Jun 2014
    #6
  7. Yadda

    Yadda Minimodder

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    It was so much simpler when product availibilty was limited (and/or free for software) while in development. These days, however, companies have learnt to take full advantage of consumers eagerness to try new products ASAP by charging a premium for late-beta/pre-release/"early access" versions, and who can blame them?
     
    Last edited: 25 Jun 2014
    Yadda, 25 Jun 2014
    #7
  8. Impatience

    Impatience Minimodder

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    Or.. Maybe it was the same before, but it wasn't as easy to learn about all these premium-beta testing products?
     
    Impatience, 25 Jun 2014
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  9. Phil Rhodes

    Phil Rhodes Hypernobber

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    Me. The phrase "beta" is increasingly being used as an excuse for charging premium money for substandard product. This is not OK.

    P
     
    Phil Rhodes, 25 Jun 2014
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  10. Yadda

    Yadda Minimodder

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    If people buy it, they will sell it. That's how the market works.
     
    Yadda, 25 Jun 2014
    #10
  11. Impatience

    Impatience Minimodder

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    There's a thin line though.. Because the companies that deliver bad products (even in beta) get a bad name. And eventually they'll be the worst off when public opinions change on buying beta's
     
    Impatience, 25 Jun 2014
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  12. Yadda

    Yadda Minimodder

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    Sure, and for that reason I'm sure the good companies make sure the products they sell, whether in beta/pre-release/early access or final, won't disappoint.
     
    Yadda, 25 Jun 2014
    #12
  13. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Bzzt. "Development kit." Also, last I checked Farnell (and the manufacturers in question) are B2B suppliers, not B2C. Are you seriously telling me Google Play is B2B?

    Google Play is a retail outlet. Google Glass is sold through Google Play to consumers. Ergo, Google Play is a retail, consumer product. Quod erat demonstrandum.

    EDIT: I fear you misunderstand what a retail product is, too. An Arduino is a development board. It is sold in Maplin, a high-street retailer. Ergo, the Arduino is a retail product - one aimed at developers. Bricks are also a retail product when I buy them from Wickes; they don't get to be some special it's-not-retail-really category just because they're not a house yet.

    The final nail in your coffin, however, comes from Google itself. The expensive Google Glass Explorer Edition is, as the name implies, aimed at "Explorers."
    This isn't a development platform, although I would imagine at least some people are buying them with a view to writing their own Glassware. Google itself says it's aimed at everyone from "chefs to cyclists," and by extension people whose job titles don't begin with C. These are end-users. Early adopters, yes, but they're still end users buying a product to use from a retail outlet. That makes Google Glass a retail product; just one that is distinctly overpriced, given Google's promise of a sub-£300 launch price. If Google hadn't said anything about pricing Glass to compete with a mid-range Android smartphone, I wouldn't be making such a fuss now about the retail launch - and this is the retail launch, make no mistake - being more than three times that price.

    Rebuttal?
     
    Last edited: 25 Jun 2014
    Gareth Halfacree, 25 Jun 2014
    #13
  14. Yadda

    Yadda Minimodder

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    "By offering the pre-retail version of Glass on the Play Store, we hope to give people who don't want to wait for the retail version the opportunity to try Glass right now."

    /marketing-speak :D
     
    Yadda, 25 Jun 2014
    #14
  15. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Except that my entire argument is that regardless of what Google's PR department might claim, what is up on the Google Play store right now is not a "pre-retail version of Glass;" it's the retail version.

    Thought experiment: if I build a Thing, and I put said Thing in Argos, and people buy said Thing, can I claim said Thing is "a pre-retail version," or does the fact I have put the Thing for sale in a retail store negate that argument?
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 25 Jun 2014
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  16. Yadda

    Yadda Minimodder

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    If you listen very carefully, you can hear Google's marketing department chuckling loudly into their coffee cups. :D
     
    Yadda, 25 Jun 2014
    #16
  17. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    We should hang a government health warning around your neck when you leave the house. :D

    Not sure. What i want to know is who is going to buy something from a 1982 Antarctic research station, especially seeing the grizzly way those researchers meet their maker.
     
    Last edited: 25 Jun 2014
    Corky42, 25 Jun 2014
    #17
  18. Yadda

    Yadda Minimodder

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    :hehe:

    "Flamethrower to collection point C please... flamethrower to collection point C."
     
    Yadda, 25 Jun 2014
    #18
  19. Yadda

    Yadda Minimodder

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    Gareth, where did you see Google make a promise regarding the retail price?

    From your original 2013 article, that retail price figure sounds more like a "hope" than a "promise":

     
    Last edited: 25 Jun 2014
    Yadda, 25 Jun 2014
    #19
  20. Glix

    Glix Left Thumb Stick in the mud.

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    I hereby declare you are not allowed to look at me or read a description of me. You have to ask me first.

    :p
     
    Glix, 25 Jun 2014
    #20
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