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Comment by uptown | Hacker News Reader

I still don't get why everybody is so upset over the aesthetics of these things? Nobody is going to force you to walk around with these on at all times. Like anything else, you'll choose when to put them on and use them. The alternative today is to walk around with your arms up holding your phone in front of you. Is that any better? The long-long term version of this looks like contact-lenses. We're just not there yet - so if you want to play with version one, this is how it'll look when you choose to wear 'em.

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If the first iPhone was embarrassing to use, would it have hindered or enhanced adoption?

Jonathan Ive will design a nice version, Apple will own the market, and google will aghast "but... we were first...".

Google glasses look cool as an object - it's just that they look bad when worn. For a start, make them symmetrical (even if the "other" projector is fake).

I completely agree. I think this is the reason why bluetooth headsets haven't really had overwhelming appeal (except with certain marked segments, such as businessmen). If a product isn't sexy, people won't use it – and that's especially true with wearable technology.

For me, it's not the asymmetry of the projector but the massive back-end. You can tell even Google knows this is unattractive because their model is wearing a hoodie to cover it up.

While I respect the attempt to make a standalone device, I think Google would be better off introducing this as a lower-cost peripheral for those who already have android smartphones. I think this would get them market penetration and slim down the design (but that's just speculation).

Also, it's probably safe to say that early adopters would already have a smartphone, and if they don't it could be a game changer to get people on Android.

Was that just in the early prototype? The bulk at the back of present design looks OK to me: http://www.google.com/glass/start/what-it-does/ (3rd image from the bottom). Just going by appearance, there are ordinary sunglasses with a similar bulk. And the compute unit will only get smaller year by year.

I'm actually kinda amazed they've managed to make it that small - OTOH, I see the key point of the project is a way to make hardware smaller yet still be usable (because we don't need a large screen).

Didn't mean to sound unimpressed - it's absolutely amazing how compact they have managed to make it (although I'd like to dive deeper into specs before I make a full judgement).

It's really hard to tell from those photos because they don't provide a great reference. The best I saw was the "strong and light" photo, so I'm going to go ahead and say it's about the same size as my thumb.

That's pretty small, but I'm not sure its small enough to have an iPod-like takeoff (yet!).

Unless you're bald or buzzed. I'd expect this thumb sized computer... to be covered by your hair either entirely or mostly. That is if it doesn't wrap around your head.

Looking at most devices people have used on their head & the capabilities of this?! I can't complain even one bit.

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