Here are my first unstructured thoughts on Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.
It’s the right product at the right time.
Google Glasses was the wrong product at the wrong time. The world wasn’t ready for it. Privacy concerns destroyed the product on arrival. You looked dorky wearing it.
Fast forward a few years, we got the creator economy: live streaming, vlogging, shooting movies on phones, dashcams, and more.
We also already have more powerful smartphones. And we handle several Bluetooth devices already – the average user is more capable of handling such tech.
Meta teamed up with Ray Ban, took a timeless product (Wayfarer), and made them smart.
You do not look dorky wearing it. The tech is working quite well. Of course, it’s tailored to Meta services (IG, FB, WhatsApp) now, but I can imagine many use cases beyond those promoted (artists, creators, athletes, etc.)
It’s also a product for casual users: parties, family events, riding your bike to work, or simply documenting your life.
It’s also an excellent product for all types of support activities (think of guiding someone to repair a bike, for example)
The glasses also work perfectly for making calls.
I wonder if other companies will now team up with competitors of Ray-Ban. I expect this to be a big market, and Apple, Go Pro, and Google, come to mind.
Privacy concerns will stay: It’s still different to be recorded by a phone – you can see a person holding the phone. The glasses have a recording indicator, but it’s different. Some countries will ban these, I am sure.
The video shows me riding my bike to work in Vienna (20min), recorded using Meta Ray Ban Glasses. Then, I spent 5 minutes editing in Capcut and 20 minutes working on this blog post.