THE GLASSHOLE SYNDROME
Ever heard the term glasshole? “Glasshole” describes someone who proudly (arrogantly) wears their Google Glass in public. The term was most likely coined by Startup L. Jackson.
I’ve been know to make fun of these people. Often people wear Glass to show off how techie and in-the-know they are. I’ve even compared them to people riding Segways; it’s almost impossible to look cool. I think most Silicon Valley tech employees (excluding Googlers, well, probably some Googlers) have heard, used and/or agree with it. They may have even rolled their eyes at someone who wore them to a tech event.
Google Glass represents a Silicon Valley phenomenon that we see over and over again. That is, the Valley often makes things that regular, everyday Americans simply could care less about. When I ask my non-tech friends what they think about Lyft, or if they’ve stayed at an AirBnB or if they saw the gif of Kevin Rose throwing raccoons, I get a blank stare. It’s just not on their radar, it’s not what they care about. They read ESPN and Buzzfeed, not TechCrunch and PandoDaily. Tech products only matter when they make a meaningful impact on their daily lives.
Google Glass has limited functionality, essentially you can take pictures, record videos and get directions from your glasses. Other than that, not much else. And the only way to get them is for Google to pick you as part of the Glass Explorers program (now closed). If picked, you still have to shell out $1500 to get them. Not quite what I would call an “everyman product”. If you went to the center of the country, let’s say Minnesota (where I grew up), I bet less than a quarter of the people could tell you what Google Glass is. That’s not because they’re stupid. It’s because they don’t have a use for glasses with a computer and camera on them.
I think you get the point. The Valley is a social bubble. It has it’s own celebrity system (computer nerds) and style of dress (hoodies). Companies there often produce products that are super cool but not all that useful.
Yet, this is what makes Silicon Valley great. Why? Because those once useless products becomedisruptive technologies. The functionality of these technologies develops to a point where drastically improve the lives of everyday Americans. They help people solve problems they didn’t know they had. For example, people joked that the iPad was a giant iPod Touch; essentially a frivolous product that only rich or Apple-indoctrinated people would buy. Today, no one makes that joke anymore. The iPad has tremendous functionality and has helped improve the daily lives of many people. Leap Motion has the potential to be like this too. The small device allows you to control a computer without touching it. The device reads the movements of your hands and fingers in the air. Developers (through Leap’s SDK) have the potential to create life changing applications of the small device.
Regardless of what you think of Google Glass’ current functionality, it represents a fundamental phenomenon that makes the Valley great. Almost all disruptive technologies and category-creating products start out outrageously expensive and thus inaccessible to the masses. But eventually they become products that change the lives of everyone across the country (and world). Google Glass will be similar thing. Google will build out the functionality and we’ll wonder how we ever lived without them (like your smartphone).
There’s an incredible optimism in the Valley. People and companies essentially say “we can make this better, we don’t have to settle for the way things are”. No idea is too crazy. And people have the talent to build the crazy things they dream up. Those ideas become the product we can’t live without.
The point of this post has little to do with the actual term “Glasshole”. It has to do with the mindset behind the term. Just remember, products like Google Glass change the lives of billions of people across the globe.
