Is Google Glass Doomed for Commercial Failure?

Google Glass is one of the most anticipated technology products of recent years. Industry pundits expected it to mark the dawn of the wearables era, but there’s a problem — it seems that very few people are actually interested in wearing them.

While Google Glass is still technically in the beta phase of its development, Google has now made the ocular wearable available to anyone willing to meet the reported $1,500 price tag. The first sign of problems with the Google Glass can be traced back to last year, when Google unveiled Glass to a select list of invitees.

By and large, those lucky few invitees were largely underwhelmed by Glass’s limited number of apps and relative lack of interactivity. Now, despite not having really addressed the product’s shortcomings, Google has put Glass on sale to the general public, and sales have not been strong.

To Google’s credit, it may not just be the Glass itself that’s at the root of the disappointing launch. Glass became available to the general public at a time when consumer concerns over privacy built to a fever pitch, with revelation after revelation pointing to invasive electronic snooping being conducted by the National Security Agency.

Despite the uneven early results, Google appears to be pushing ahead with Glass, and that’s good news for Google Glass app development professionals. Even if the current iteration of the product fails to meet Google’s sales expectations, there is little doubt that wearables will become an in-demand tech product in the years ahead. Most expect Google to come back with a revamped and improved version of Glass if the company isn’t able to strike the desired chord with its current design.

Software engineers focused on mobile app development will want to watch the wearables market closely in the months and years ahead. If and when wearables catch on, they will open up a massive new market for apps and software.