The geekiverse is abuzz with excitement not seen since the hype leading up to the iPad announcement back in 2010.
Today, the chatter is over wearable computing — specifically of the Google and Apple variety.
I’ve actually never liked the term “wearable computing.”
It makes me think of lights and circuits sewn into a shirt or something. But luckily, we’re talking about the rumored Apple wrist watch and the well-documented Google Glass project.
The Apple watch is surrounded by the usual rumor mill. It supposedly has all the bells and whistles you’d expect, plus a sleek, curved glass body which does Apple’s style guidelines justice. Of course it’s just a rumor at the moment, but that only seems to fuel the fire.
Google Glass, however, is the real deal. It is a pair of glasses that has an integrated display in one (or maybe both) of the lenses.
They have demoed the glasses several times and have even begun shipping development models to software engineers and interested parties who plan to build apps for the new device.
The Apple watch hearkens back to Dick Tracy, where a phone call was just a click of a button on your wrist.
I know that we’ve been able to do that for a while now with cellphones, but there’s something a little magical about turning it into a watch.
The Pebble Watch, for example, was a dynamic, customizable wrist watch project on Kickstarter that raised more than $10 million from thousands of pre-purchases. They basically validated a market for Apple to come in and take over.
Google Glass has a much more futuristic tilt. Where a watch might seem like a bit of a novelty, the glasses seem a little too science fiction. Imagine having driving directions just “appear” in your field of vision. Or having billboards come to life with animation when you’re looking at them. Or being able to snap a photo by holding your hands in front of you and mimicking a camera. These are the leaps forward that Google is aiming for.
As a nerd, I’m much more excited about a sci-fi visor that enriches my field of vision with new and exciting possibilities than I am about an interactive watch. At the same time, Google Glass will be such a leap forward that it may not reach mass adoption.
And that assumes Google executes the whole thing correctly, which is far from a given.
It seems the question of the day isn’t whether wearable devices will become a reality. The question is really one of flavor preference. Do you prefer to interact with the digital world from your wrist or from your field of vision?
Watches may be too close to phones to make a real impact, and I’m imagining the same stigma of Bluetooth headsets being assigned to Google Glass. But if either device is useful, you can bet that people will be integrating them into their daily lives sooner rather than later.
Jesse Bushkar is the CEO of Sysconn New Media Inc. He can be contacted at 912-356-9920 or jesse@sysconn.com.