Google Glass Reviewed at Wearable Tech, "Feels More Like the Segway"

A lot of people are excited about Google Glass and the possibilities it may open up for the future of wearable computing, but not everyone—a few venture capitalists at the Wearable Tech Expo in New York are among the sceptics.

On Wednesday, the Wearable Tech Expo in New York featured a panel of venture capitalists talking about good investments and the future of wearable technology. Among the venture capitalists on the panel were John Frankel, a partner at Venture Capital, and Tammi Smorynski from Intel Captial. Both were not wildly excited about Google's new smartglasses.

"It's too big a change of behavior. It's technology that sits between you and other people... it feels to me that it's too impersonal," said Frankel, as reported by GigaOm. Smorynski had a different reason for his skepticism, saying that Intel had invested in other heads-up display technology previously, and based on that, he was not sure that Google could actually create a market for its HUD product. "We've kind of been there, done that," said Smorynski.

But the greatest blow to Google Glass's pride came from Frankel, who also compared the smartglasses to another big technology that failed miserably in the market place. "It feels more like the Segway than anything else, which is, 'hey, this looks great on paper but I probably wouldn't have one in the garage.'"

The Segway, of course, is the two-wheeled self-balancing personal transport vehicle invented by Dean Kamen, which, prior to its unveiling, generated much advanced buzz and hyperbolic praise, including Steve jobs purportedly saying that it was "as big a deal as the PC," and Kamen himself saying that it would change the way cities were built.

But the Segway failed to do any of that, costing too much and having a design that, while ingenious and technologically advanced, didn't fit into anyone's lives. Segways are now seen as mostly a curiosity or punch line, finding their way into practical service only as a vehicle for tour groups or park police. Google certainly is hoping Glass won't go down the way Frankel sees it.