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Comment by ignostic | Hacker News Reader

> Google Glass takes wearable computing a step beyond the basic wrist watch. However, the rate of adoption will almost certainly be lower...

Nonsense. Everyone I've talked to about Glass has suggested a new use that I haven't thought of yet, and I've only met one person who wasn't excited about the project.

Everyone I've talked to about smartwatches, on the other hand, doesn't understand. "Why? What can it do that my phone can't?" "But I already have a clock on my phone."

This sentiment is mirrored in the tech media. This might be anecdotal at this point, but I'm predicting a flop for watches and a lot of wasted time and money.

But then, maybe I'm wrong like I was wrong about tablets before the iPad started selling.

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Smart watches can succeed because they have different use cases than phones. Do people look at their phones because there is a clock on it, or for some other reason?

I am using a Pebble now and since I have gotten it I no longer look at my phone on a regular basis. In fact I often lose track of my phone because I so rarely take it out.

Although in theory I agree with your idea, the relevant price points of the two products would probably be an important factor in their popularity.

Even if the glass was to be reduced to a $1000 product, I still feel that a lot of people would find that sort of luxury product a little over their price point.

We know so little about the watch (down to its very existence) however you would expect the price point to be similar to other smart watches which are in and around $100. If this was the case, the smaller amount of uses of a $100 device out trumps the virtues of a $1000 device for the vast majority of budget users.

Absolutely! It is a lot easier to introduce a new, innovative product that everyone can visually and conceptually understand as something new. But trying to reinvent a (more or less dead) market is a lot more difficult.

I could see the chances as slightly better for Apple, as they are already in the high priced segment on the verge to a lifestyle/design product. This should connect better to the existing (male) watch market which looks to the outside as having become completely a luxury/accessories market.

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