What If They Forgot the Smart in Smart Glasses?
The problem with Ray-Ban Stories isn't privacy; it's a dumb, expensive product.
I had to run down to the Ray-Ban store in SoHo, New York, where I was when Facebook and Ray-Ban announced the product. I buy any new product that uses technology in an interesting way…
I have already bought one each of these earlier products: Google Glass, Snap Spectacles, Bose Frames (does anyone remember them?). My first conclusion: The tech press is way too enamored of politics these days and have lost their way when it comes to providing consumers with intelligent product advice. The general conclusion of the press? Great product design but a real challenge in terms of privacy. The Verge. The Guardian. The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal. Etc. Etc.
IMHO: Ray-Ban Stories is a terrible product. Yes, it’s impressive that they (Facebook? Ray-Ban?) fit all that stuff into what looks exactly like regular Ray-Bans. See the photo below to see if you can tell which one is the real Ray-Ban. My wife bought the pair on the left because they are very fashionable. I bought the pair on the right because it has a built-in camera, speakers, microphone, Bluetooth and Wifi and pairs with an app called Facebook View.
With all that stuff built in, my Ray-Ban Stories are impressive technically. The quality of the photos is great, but… Their stated purpose is to share what you see through the glasses on Facebook and other media. As a camera, they do not give the user a way to frame the photo or video; I never took a single picture where I was happy with the result. Every single time, the subject was too far away or cut off.
In simple terms, this product does a poor job of doing what it is supposed to do very well.
For example: I kept taking videos when I wanted to take photos. The product requires the user to take photos by holding the button down until you hear a click. Stupid me! I thought that was the way to take videos. But, no, it’s the opposite: Single click makes a 30-second video; hold button takes a photo.
Since I never saw it mentioned, the reviewers must have all thought that it is slick that Facebook View (the companion app from Facebook) uses WiFi to transfer photos to your phone (at least to my iPhone), which it does. But it requires that you manually accept every single time you have to manually tell View to join the “Stories WiFi Network”; it does, and then returns your device to its current WiFi connection. This is good user experience design?
I have now put my Ray-Ban Stories in the same dustbin as Google Glass, Bose Frame, and Snap Spectacles. (To give Snap credit, it appears that Snap sold a lot more of their glasses than the other two and is now on its third generation Spectacles.)
I’m pretty sure that Ray-Ban Stories will fail as a product too. Irony: All those reviewers will blame the product brand, Ray-Ban, since Facebook has kept their brand secondary, and it is being sold through all of Ray-Ban’s distribution channels. But we all know that Facebook actually designed and specified this product, right? Evil Facebook, even taking advantage of its partners to pursue its evil objectives to track and manipulate its customers.
Most people who want to take videos with tools like these are doing GoPro style videos like those mounted on their bike or skiing helmets. Hands-free. Not “filming” from a stationary position.
Holding down the button would prevent their natural use.
Mark’s fencing video is exactly what I’m expecting these to be used for. The kind my daughter uses for wilderness action videos she takes on hikes.