If you're not a fan of so-called "Glassholes," prepare to be annoyed, but if you're a friend of a Google Glass Explorer, start being really nice to them.
Ahead of the device's expected 2014 release, Google has vicariously encouraged more people to join the Glass Explorer program, telling Glass owners to "share Glass with a friend." About 8,000 people, according to ZDNet, are currently in the Google Glass Explorer program, demoing the high-priced smartglasses while Google works the kinks out of the system and prepares for a larger release, expected by many in 2014.
To get Google Glass, those users had to submit an entry saying what they'd do with the new smartglasses to Google's Twitter hashtag competition #IfIHadGlass. If they were lucky enough to be approved, they still had to play $1,500 for the device. Now those few select people have been encouraged via email to invite one friend to join the program. Glass owner, Ryan Mott posted a screenshot of the email on his Google+ profile.
The email said, "we love sharing Glass with our friends, because adventures through Glass are more fun with others. Here's your chance to invite one friend into the Glass Explorer Program." Friends of Glass owners must be at least 18 years old, a United States resident, and be able to pick up Glass in either San Francisco, New York City, or Los Angeles. Sarah Price, Google Glass community manager, told ZDnet that they'll also have to play the $1,500 to get Glass.
The email campaign is similar to Google's "invite a friend" strategy for Gmail, long ago. But it is not a widespread invite, and beyond the people who have already received the invite prompt, don't expect any more Glass owners to suddenly have the power to share the smartglasses with friends. On Kata Rina's Google+ page (another Google Glass owner who got the invite email), Price commented that the campaign was more of an experiment, saying "if you haven't received this email yet, I'll try to find out whether we're done for now or not... since this is an experiment, I don't want you sitting on the edge of your seat if we're done for the moment." A few hours later, Price returned to the page, saying, "Hey guys, confirmed, no more emails are going out right now for this experiment."
If you're just wild about wearing a computer on your face and haven't been lucky enough to either join the Glass Explorer program in the first place or have an Explorer ask you to join yesterday, there's one smartglass alternative that you can try, according to FastCompany. It's called GlassUp, and it's currently a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo.
GlassUp is a set of glasses with a display that sits in the center of your field of vision, giving you text and images in one color. It doesn't allow you to make calls or take video from your point of view, and you won't be saying "Ok, Glass" to navigate through the web on the display. But you can tether it to your smartphone via Bluetooth, display text messages, and navigate through cities with it. And at $299, open to anyone who funds it, GlassUp may just sate your "Glass" fever. For the time being, at least.