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Google will no longer sell the new Enterprise Edition of Google Glass, the company announced this week, effectively killing off the new product line but failing from another era that many consumers may have thought was long overdue.
First revealed in 2013, Google Glass was first available for sale to the public, with the promise of giving people access to a computer on their face rather than having to pull out a phone. But the smart glasses were discontinued in 2015 after beta versions failed to gain traction due to its high price tag, clunky design and concerns about privacy.
Google then shifted focus from consumers to business. The first Enterprise Edition of Glass, announced in 2017, was pushed for use in industries such as manufacturing and logistics. Enterprise Edition 2, released in 2019, was Google’s last attempt at keeping the Glass product alive. But the $999 product failed to catch on.
“Thank you for ten years of innovation and partnership,” Google wrote on its FAQ page announcing the decision. The company will continue to support the discontinued Enterprise Edition until September.
Google did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Google’s decision to discontinue the product comes amid cost cuts across the company. Like many of its peers, Google has recently announced plans to lay off thousands in response to recession fears and changing pandemic demand for digital products.
However, the dream of Google Glass lives on. Snapchat’s parent company is selling Spectacles, another set of smart glasses that has struggled over the years to gain traction. Apple reportedly is working on augmented reality glasses. And even after the release of Glass, Google said last year that it continues to test other AR glasses.
“Augmented reality (AR) is opening up new ways to interact with the world around us,” the company said in a blog post last summer. “It can help us quickly and easily access the information we need – such as understanding another language or knowing how best to get from point A to point B.”
Ten years after Google launched Glass with the same goal, the future is still coming into focus.