Hi Guys. To be clear by ‘Guys’ I am talking to the males out there. How’s that Google Glass you paid $1600 working out for you? How’s your love life been since you started using it? Better, worse, the same? Well according to HP executive Ray Edwards you are not likely to get a date wearing Glass. Yes, Edwards certainly thinks that Glass (although it may be the future of technology) it is not the future of fashion. Edwards even went so far as to warn Glass wearers (aka Explorers) not to wear their Glass on a date. Adding that they definitely should not if they want to get a second date. In his exact words “When you look at the appeal of Google Glass…would you wear it on a date? Probably not. And, if you did, you probably wouldn’t get a second date”.
Ray Edwards made the comments during a presentation he was giving at the Wearable World’s Glazed Conference (aka GLAZEDcon 2014) in London. Edwards was at the conference as he is one of the guys who heads up HP’s wearable investment branch known as ‘HP New Ventures’. Although he there to focus on HP’s future in the industry he could not help to throw a verbal punch Googles way. As mentioned the main focus of Edward’s speech was to explain and advise on the direction HP want to take with their own vision of wearable technology. Edwards points out that if wearables are to be successful they need to be “personal and unique” further adding that HP are looking to make wearable technology which elicits an emotional connection with its users. According to Edwards those who want to be successful in creating wearable products need to understand that “fashion is something you wear” adding “technology is something you carry”. This was a recurring theme during Edward’s presentation in which he spoke of how HP wants to create products that the users take pride in similar to a Swiss watch. Even going as far as to suggest users would want to pass them down to the next generation.
The sentiments made by Evans does ring somewhat true with what has been expected with HP as they seem intent on offering more luxury based technology products. The best example of this is their recently announced smartwatch which they are producing in collaboration with fashion designer Michael Bastian. So what do you think of Edwards comments? Do you think he (or HP) are being slightly aloof with their comments that there is a difference between fashion and technology and the future is more complicated than Google seem to think? Do you own Glass? Would you wear them on a date? Have you already? Let us know.