If you happen to have a spare $1500 plus tax (A$1600), and you also happen to live in the US of A, you can now take part in the Glass Explorer program as the proud owner of the wearable technology everyone seems to be talking about, Google Glass.
One month after its one-day sale in April, Google has now put Glass back on the open market, allowing anyone in the US to buy the technology as long as Google has it “on hand.”
Google Glass video: http://youtu.be/-jSP6sTgswI
“We’ve since built our inventory back up and plan to continue to accelerate new ways to expand the program in the weeks and months ahead,” the Glass team said.
Google Glass is currently only available on Google’s own website, in a variety of colours – black, white, orange, blue and brown. However, Google stresses this is still a beta product.
“We learned a lot when we opened our site a few weeks ago, so we’ve decided to move to a more open beta. We’re still in the Explorer Program while we continue to improve our hardware and software, but starting today anyone in the US can buy the Glass Explorer Edition, as long as we have it on hand.”
The reason they are releasing the beta version to wider audience is to improve it, and to discover any possible issues or bugs.
Which begs the question, why would you pay $1500 for a beta version when it could be buggy and the alpha version is likely to be much better and lower in cost?
You want me to pay how much?
While some early-adopters will always be willing to fork out for new technology, many would find the $1500 price tag on Google Glass too much to swallow.
Especially when two recent teardowns put the cost of producing each Google Glass unit at less than a tenth of its sale price.
In a report by research firm IFS Technology, it was estimated that the cost of the hardware and manufacturing of each Glass unit came to $152.47 (A$162).
TechInsight’s teardown put that hardware and manufacturing cost even lower, at just US$79.78 per pair.
However, it’s not just the physical cost of each unit that should be taken into account, as IFS senior director Andrew Rassweiler pointed out.
“As in any new product – especially a device that breaks new technological ground – the bill of materials (BOM) cost of Glass represent only a portion of the actual value of the system,” Rassweiler said.
“IHS has noted this before in other electronic devices, but this is most dramatically illustrated in Google Glass, where the vast majority of its cost is tied up in non-material costs that include non-recurring engineering (NRE) expenses, extensive software and platform development, as well as tooling costs and other upfront outlays.
“When you buy Google Glass for $1,500, you are getting far, far more than just $152.47 in parts and manufacturing.”
Google was quick to refute the estimated build cost of both teardowns.
“While we appreciate another attempt to estimate the cost of Glass, this latest one from IHS, like Teardown.com’s, is wildly off. Glass costs significantly more to produce,” a Google spokesperson said.
Google says, “Don’t be a Glasshole”
On top of cost concerns, Google has also had to deal with social concerns. The device features an inbuilt camera that takes hands-free 5-megapixel photos and video at 720p, which has some members of the public concerned about their privacy.
A recent survey by market research firm Toluna found that the majority of Americans would avoid purchasing Google Glass due to concerns about personal privacy, and 72% would avoid wearing Google Glass in public.
Toluna managing director Mark Simon said, “It is clear that a high proportion of individuals have concerns about the potential impact on their privacy. This is something Google and other tech companies using the technology should address before the product can become mainstream.”
Last month, Google did try to bust some ‘Google Glass Myths’ to debunk popular misconceptions about the device, and asked Glass wearers not to be “creepy or rude (aka, a ‘Glasshole’).”
“If someone wants to secretly record you, there are much, much better cameras out there than one you wear conspicuously on your face and that lights up every time you give a voice command, or press a button,” Google said.
“If a company sought to design a secret spy device, they could do a better job than Glass.”
The post Google Glass beta now available to all – for a cool $1500 appeared first on Quid.