In my cranky place the other day, I targeted Google Glass, “Sure, as a game, it might be fun, but as an everyday device? Can we be serious with our innovative abilities? Does everything have to be about selling the next fad? What the heck is the point in walking around with a computer in your face, literally?” Mind you, I was cranky, but the clear impression I left is that the forthcoming eyepiece had but a single use. Leave it to an thoughtful reader to help me out with my carelessness.
- I don’t really look at Google Glass as a fad. As science fictiony as it may sound I see an abundance of uses for such a device. The appeal of smart phones is that they can get specific types of information to specific people who need it, instantly. My point is that once the developers get a hold of this, and start customizing experience for numerous different users, I think you will start to see a lot more relevant application. Think of a paramedic or healthcare worker, who can be delivered relevant patient information while they are administering care hands free. Or a consumer who simply wants to take home movies and pictures hands free. I believe that being able to manipulate all the apps on your phone without touching it is a significant improvement.
Also, Google Glass is still somewhat of an idea and hasn’t been widely released. The technology will improve and at some point when you go to the eye doctor for your new prescription you will probably get to have those normal looking lenses “enhanced by Google” at a certain cost. (Warby Parker is going to take a shot at Luxottica in a big way) Humans are becoming one with computers and the internet in profound new ways, it won’t slow down, and the trend suggests it won’t become any less “in your face”.
Thank you for your elegantly stated and cogent comment on my piece. Of course, I agree with you completely regarding the practical uses for Google Glass. I also understand that many of the great inventions started out as fads, but then found their way into the very fabric of our lives. The personal computer is an example.
Google Glass is simply a more intimate extension of the personal computer and so it will find its way into the “fabric of our lives,” as the reader states. Again, thank you for commenting. I so appreciate a bright mind enlightening us. Now, if would be so kind as to answer the question, how does a market player make money on the wide potential implementations of the device?
- In general, fundamentals control the big picture – the overall direction of prices long term – and every investor/trader should be aware of the fundamentals of the market in which they are involved, no matter what style of trading they decide to use.
Darrell Jobman’s words (TraderPlanet Today: TRADING 101: Fundamentals of Fundamentals) ring loud in my head. I preach them in this column all the time. The big picture is where it is at for understanding the long-term, and, to a degree, the near-term market movement. Markets do not move in isolation. The web of connection is wide and the flow of the individual currents generally conform the flow of the larger stream. The market understands this and this is the reason the market momentum is continuing.
- Even at these levels [stock market], a popular options gauge shows investors are placing optimistic wagers on the stock market, positioning for the current run-up to extend for the next three months.
The fundamentals are everywhere, from US unemployment data to Japan’s attempt at extricating itself from the decades of deflation and flatness.
- Reuters Tankan survey showed a sixth consecutive month of improving manufacturer sentiment in Japan, as exporters cheered the weak yen. The index printed at 7, the first positive read in more than a year. The country’s Economics Minister said the stage is set for a “V-shaped recovery.”
- Unemployment rates dropped in 43 out of the 50 U.S. states and in the District of Columbia in April from a year before, according to Labor Department data released on Friday.
So, an improving global economic picture, the US continuing to plod forward economically, and a market determined to keep marching into unprecedented territory provides a frame for the question about Google Glass. One can make money on the device in just about any quarter that takes the innovation and implements it, even if that implementation starts out as a current fad. If Steve Jobs were alive, I bet he would agree.
Trade in the day; Invest in your life …
