What's the value proposition relative to the alternatives?
It is adding weight, complexity, and limiting choice to your eye-wear while effectively doing a similar thing to half a dozen wireless earbuds already on the market. It isn't really comparable to Google Glass, because Google Glass used projection onto the glasses themselves (creating a unique value).
Plus Amazon are trying to integrate with the US's predominant eye wear monopoly (via insurance/out-of-network frames) instead of just bypassing it and producing the lenses themselves. So you're paying $179.99 for empty frames and then untold amounts for the actual lenses, and trying to ingrate with an insurance system that's designed to benefit only Luxottica (via their stranglehold of both insurance companies AND lens producers).
Ah, this explains all the push back I got from Warby Parker about not providing a lens prescription. I'd already used Zenni before and gotten used to treating my glasses like what they are...a simple product with lens ground to a specification, not a potentially threatening medication.
Too bad their support couldn't explain why they were hassling me for a document they didn't need (except for in a legal sense).
> an insurance system that's designed to benefit only Luxottica (via their stranglehold of both insurance companies AND lens producers).
How is this a thing? Couldn't a startup come in and trounce them by offering $10 frames and lenses? The optics aren't that complicated, and frames are... plastic?
So you're paying $179.99 for empty frames and then untold amounts for the actual lenses
This seems like smartnes.
Pretty much every employer vision plan I've had for the last 20 years has given its employees $150 credit toward frames. So now employees can opt for paying $29.99 out-of-pocket for Echo frames, instead of $150+ out-of-pocket for frames, since any frames worth putting on your face cost $300+.
The last time I got new glasses (a few months ago), the cheapest pair of frames in the shop was $450.
Frames and lenses are always covered with separate co-pays/co-insurance at every employer I've ever had.
The value prop isn't for the consumer, it's for Amazon. Stuffing Alexa into anything and everything means more usage overall and a more attractive platform for companies looking to sell their wares.
I don’t like voice assistants and would never wear this, but I know I’m a minority as I’ve met many people who love their Echo speaker/dot/etc.
This lets you use Alexa without taking your phone out or wearing ear buds. If I liked Alexa and wore glasses, I could see myself being into this product. Even if I didn’t wear glasses, being a hardcore Alexa fan user might justify wearing “fake” glasses just for the convenience.
On Amazon’s end, it’s a smart move. If this product sticks in any way at all, they’ll have a platform to iterate on in the upcoming years - such as making more premium versions with cameras/display/AR/etc. Because this is such a basic product, it will likely not face the same kind of backlash as Google Glass did, and lets Amazon usher the age of face wearables in a much smoother way than Google’s attempt.
So again, I hate voice assistants with a passion and have no interest in this product, but I think this is a very clever product move from Amazon.
"Amazon open-ear technology directs sound to your ears, letting you discreetly access Alexa. With your ears uncovered, you’ll be able to hear without blocking out the world around you."
> Now you can hear notifications and alerts, turn on compatible smart lights, or call a friend, all without pulling out your phone. They’re designed to keep you in the moment—so you never miss one.
wow, I just had to laugh at this marketing-speak... "designed to keep you in the moment with even more distractions"
My regular glasses already keep me in the moment by forcing me to toggle a light switch with my finger. This marketing is such nonsense. They're really reaching to find some utility in something that provides very little.
>> Gargoyles represent the embarrassing side of the Central Intelligence Corporation. Instead of using laptops, they wear their computers on their bodies, broken up into separate modules that hang on the waist, on the back, on the headset. They serve as human surveillance devices, recording everything that happens around them. Nothing looks stupider, these getups are the modern-day equivalent of the slide-rule scabbard or the calculator pouch on the belt, marking the user as belonging to a class that is at once above and far below human society. [...] The payoff for this self-imposed ostracism is that you can be in the Metaverse all the time, and gather intelligence all the time.
~sigh~
Snow Crash - like 1984 - was a warning, not a manual for building the future.
> Echo Frames are designed to protect your privacy.
That page is careful to always say "protect your privacy". The privacy of everyone else in range of the microphone apparently isn't even worth mentioning. That responsibility is implicitly (and silently) pushed onto the user.
> That responsibility is implicitly (and silently) pushed onto the user.
...As it should be? I don't want my technology to make privacy choices for me. I'm not putting down hundreds of dollars to have some algorithm baby me into complacency.
The possibility of being recorded in public has been obvious since the introduction of the microphone, and essentially expected in the smartphone age. What difference does it make if that microphone is on my glasses rather than in my pocket or on my wrist?
The golden rule applies: Don't talk about things you want to hide in public. I'm not saying "you have nothing to worry about if you have nothing to hide" - I'm saying "if you have something to hide why would you announce it out loud amongst strangers?" That's just bad opsec and, yeah, it's on you to police what information you release when you're surrounded by people who listen. Smart devices or not, that's a basic responsibility anyone owes to themselves and the people they're talking about.
Regardless of the value proposition of this product, can we take a moment to appreciate that these glasses have way more going on in them while also costing about the same as luxottica frames?
I don't understand why it has to be glasses, when the important bit is just a microphone and speaker, and there is no display capability. Would something like AirPods work just as well? According to the website the glasses are light-weight, so they can't hide huge amounts of battery-storage in them either (unless they're not being entirely truthful).
edit: Okay, I just saw that they have Echo Buds too. So I guess this is only for people who already wear glasses, or prefer them for some reason.
Are these not just bluetooth headphones that have glasses?
"A single charge delivers a day of intermittent usage at 60% volume. Intermittent usage includes 40 Alexa interactions, 45 minutes of music, podcast or other audio playback, 20 minutes of phone calls, and 90 incoming notifications over a 14-hour period. Alternatively, a fully charged battery will last up to 3 hours of continuous audio playback at 60% volume. Actual battery life will vary depending on device settings, features utilized, environment and other factors. Fully charges in about 75 minutes."
I was gifted an Alexa and disconnected it after the first day. Whatever minor convenience it offers aren't worth the massive privacy risks.
That's what bothers me so much about all these gadgets and apps. They don't even offer anything revolutionary. Just a handful of gimmicks and evolutionary improvements to things you could already do.
Yet people are happy giving up their privacy for it.
It's not that hard to add tasks to your to-do list manually. Or to switch on your table lamp by hand.
I'm really conscious of sharing half my conversation with something. I don't even like talking on the phone in public. Not a fan of all these devices that are only powered by voice.
I work at a tech firm. We use these tools fairly regularly. Often, someone will ask a question the other person doesn't know the answer and will turn around and ask their phone. Works pretty good much of the time.
I'm still not sure how useful the frames will be, but I can see a few uses for them, especially on my daily commute.
I hear both occasionally being shouted out from TV and radio commercials at any nearby devices. I have no idea if that actually activates the devices in people's homes though. It seems like it would be extremely invasive if it does (which I realize might be not matter much to people who install that stuff in their homes in the first place)
Eventually this will evolve into a system where you can just think of what u want and an AI assistant will go and do it for you, optionally presenting results within your field of vision, or if you're not an oldtimer, directly to your brain
Looks just like Bose frames. I haven't used Echo Frames but I own and have used the Bose frames and constantly pair them up with Google Assistant on my phone.
Here's a few opinions on my experience:
- The glasses look bulky but don't feel it
- The sound system is pretty decent, I can listen to music and take phone calls and the audio will be crystal clear
- I don't like the fact that if I raise the volume everyone can hear what I am listening to, this is particularly bad for phone calls but even when listening to Google Assistant giving me the weather forecast rundown can become a problem for others around (not me obviously - but people who think I just have really loud invisible headphones in my ears)
- Battery life can be better, it's not terrible but it's still a bluetooth device that needs to be in touch with your phone to work so it's not too bad ultimately! Depends how much music you will listen to..
- Lack of camera sucks hard: I could think of 200 use-cases for having a camera, instead I have to raise my phone and use Google magic glass to scan QR codes or to translate text. Shame :(
- Did I mention they just look bulky?
Overall they're nice and rather useful in some very specific situations, I love biking with them (they're protecting my eyes from UV properly according to Bose) and I love going for walks around the park wearing them - but only when I am alone and not too many people around so I don't look like I've got bees in my ears. Yes the buzzing can be annoying for people who walk beside you. (Or maybe that's a good thing, if you don't wanna hear your friend complain about how the price of their favorite beer went up another half a dollar here in Austin. /sarcasm)
To all the people who don't like/freak out about their data being harvested: would you use such a device, if it is completely open (both hardware and software) and the data is under your control?
"Eye"glasses which do nothing related to your eyes. At least Google Glass had a display.
Can I just have a display? Pretty please? Doesn't have to be high resolution, it doesn't have to have much intelligence other than connecting to my phone.
We just need magic-mirror-like glasses that don't look like you have been captured by a Borg cube.
I remember the camera being the bit that got everyone the most skeeved out over Google Glass. Also it standing out so much made it too odd and obvious. These scan a lot more like plain old glasses.
I’m not willing to carry around a corporation controlled microphone on my face.
The only voice recognition I am comfortable with would run on open source software on hardware I owned and physically possessed. I have looked and this doesn’t seem to really exist.
The Frames are absolutely the best I have ever seen in my life. They can get expensive but absolutely worth it. Got a pair of these that are made of titanium. They are so light you forget you even have glasses on.
You don't necessarily need to go to Japan, there are a couple of different Japanese brands of titanium frames and most high-end glasses stores will have at least one. I've got a pair of Waza frames, and as you say: expensive, but highly recommended. They're basically weightless.
I'd rather they worked on making regular prescription eyeglasses and frames less expensive. That would help a lot more people and could still be profitable considering the huge markups on frames now.
[+] [-] Someone1234|6 years ago|reply
It is adding weight, complexity, and limiting choice to your eye-wear while effectively doing a similar thing to half a dozen wireless earbuds already on the market. It isn't really comparable to Google Glass, because Google Glass used projection onto the glasses themselves (creating a unique value).
Plus Amazon are trying to integrate with the US's predominant eye wear monopoly (via insurance/out-of-network frames) instead of just bypassing it and producing the lenses themselves. So you're paying $179.99 for empty frames and then untold amounts for the actual lenses, and trying to ingrate with an insurance system that's designed to benefit only Luxottica (via their stranglehold of both insurance companies AND lens producers).
[+] [-] noobiemcfoob|6 years ago|reply
Too bad their support couldn't explain why they were hassling me for a document they didn't need (except for in a legal sense).
[+] [-] chucky|6 years ago|reply
If I have to insert earbuds to talk to Alexa, then I could just bring up my entire phone.
[+] [-] echelon|6 years ago|reply
> an insurance system that's designed to benefit only Luxottica (via their stranglehold of both insurance companies AND lens producers).
How is this a thing? Couldn't a startup come in and trounce them by offering $10 frames and lenses? The optics aren't that complicated, and frames are... plastic?
[+] [-] reaperducer|6 years ago|reply
This seems like smartnes.
Pretty much every employer vision plan I've had for the last 20 years has given its employees $150 credit toward frames. So now employees can opt for paying $29.99 out-of-pocket for Echo frames, instead of $150+ out-of-pocket for frames, since any frames worth putting on your face cost $300+.
The last time I got new glasses (a few months ago), the cheapest pair of frames in the shop was $450.
Frames and lenses are always covered with separate co-pays/co-insurance at every employer I've ever had.
[+] [-] dr01d|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] GuiA|6 years ago|reply
This lets you use Alexa without taking your phone out or wearing ear buds. If I liked Alexa and wore glasses, I could see myself being into this product. Even if I didn’t wear glasses, being a hardcore Alexa fan user might justify wearing “fake” glasses just for the convenience.
On Amazon’s end, it’s a smart move. If this product sticks in any way at all, they’ll have a platform to iterate on in the upcoming years - such as making more premium versions with cameras/display/AR/etc. Because this is such a basic product, it will likely not face the same kind of backlash as Google Glass did, and lets Amazon usher the age of face wearables in a much smoother way than Google’s attempt.
So again, I hate voice assistants with a passion and have no interest in this product, but I think this is a very clever product move from Amazon.
[+] [-] ijidak|6 years ago|reply
"Amazon open-ear technology directs sound to your ears, letting you discreetly access Alexa. With your ears uncovered, you’ll be able to hear without blocking out the world around you."
[+] [-] fortran77|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] not_a_cop75|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] losteric|6 years ago|reply
wow, I just had to laugh at this marketing-speak... "designed to keep you in the moment with even more distractions"
[+] [-] allenu|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Traubenfuchs|6 years ago|reply
> And with no camera or display, you stay in the moment.
[+] [-] unknown|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] pdkl95|6 years ago|reply
~sigh~
Snow Crash - like 1984 - was a warning, not a manual for building the future.
> Echo Frames are designed to protect your privacy.
That page is careful to always say "protect your privacy". The privacy of everyone else in range of the microphone apparently isn't even worth mentioning. That responsibility is implicitly (and silently) pushed onto the user.
[+] [-] XorNot|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nexuist|6 years ago|reply
...As it should be? I don't want my technology to make privacy choices for me. I'm not putting down hundreds of dollars to have some algorithm baby me into complacency.
The possibility of being recorded in public has been obvious since the introduction of the microphone, and essentially expected in the smartphone age. What difference does it make if that microphone is on my glasses rather than in my pocket or on my wrist?
The golden rule applies: Don't talk about things you want to hide in public. I'm not saying "you have nothing to worry about if you have nothing to hide" - I'm saying "if you have something to hide why would you announce it out loud amongst strangers?" That's just bad opsec and, yeah, it's on you to police what information you release when you're surrounded by people who listen. Smart devices or not, that's a basic responsibility anyone owes to themselves and the people they're talking about.
[+] [-] ProfessorLayton|6 years ago|reply
What a racket
[+] [-] j88439h84|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JohnJamesRambo|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dEnigma|6 years ago|reply
edit: Okay, I just saw that they have Echo Buds too. So I guess this is only for people who already wear glasses, or prefer them for some reason.
[+] [-] derision|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] calvinmorrison|6 years ago|reply
"A single charge delivers a day of intermittent usage at 60% volume. Intermittent usage includes 40 Alexa interactions, 45 minutes of music, podcast or other audio playback, 20 minutes of phone calls, and 90 incoming notifications over a 14-hour period. Alternatively, a fully charged battery will last up to 3 hours of continuous audio playback at 60% volume. Actual battery life will vary depending on device settings, features utilized, environment and other factors. Fully charges in about 75 minutes."
[+] [-] puranjay|6 years ago|reply
That's what bothers me so much about all these gadgets and apps. They don't even offer anything revolutionary. Just a handful of gimmicks and evolutionary improvements to things you could already do.
Yet people are happy giving up their privacy for it.
It's not that hard to add tasks to your to-do list manually. Or to switch on your table lamp by hand.
[+] [-] screaminghawk|6 years ago|reply
I really wish Google Glass had been a success.
[+] [-] big_chungus|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pacomerh|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] codazoda|6 years ago|reply
I'm still not sure how useful the frames will be, but I can see a few uses for them, especially on my daily commute.
[+] [-] autoexec|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] darepublic|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yalogin|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orliesaurus|6 years ago|reply
Here's a few opinions on my experience:
- The glasses look bulky but don't feel it
- The sound system is pretty decent, I can listen to music and take phone calls and the audio will be crystal clear
- I don't like the fact that if I raise the volume everyone can hear what I am listening to, this is particularly bad for phone calls but even when listening to Google Assistant giving me the weather forecast rundown can become a problem for others around (not me obviously - but people who think I just have really loud invisible headphones in my ears)
- Battery life can be better, it's not terrible but it's still a bluetooth device that needs to be in touch with your phone to work so it's not too bad ultimately! Depends how much music you will listen to..
- Lack of camera sucks hard: I could think of 200 use-cases for having a camera, instead I have to raise my phone and use Google magic glass to scan QR codes or to translate text. Shame :(
- Did I mention they just look bulky?
Overall they're nice and rather useful in some very specific situations, I love biking with them (they're protecting my eyes from UV properly according to Bose) and I love going for walks around the park wearing them - but only when I am alone and not too many people around so I don't look like I've got bees in my ears. Yes the buzzing can be annoying for people who walk beside you. (Or maybe that's a good thing, if you don't wanna hear your friend complain about how the price of their favorite beer went up another half a dollar here in Austin. /sarcasm)
[+] [-] kodachi|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] narak|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] outworlder|6 years ago|reply
Can I just have a display? Pretty please? Doesn't have to be high resolution, it doesn't have to have much intelligence other than connecting to my phone.
We just need magic-mirror-like glasses that don't look like you have been captured by a Borg cube.
[+] [-] WaxProlix|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chipperyman573|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rtkwe|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ihuman|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rwmurrayVT|6 years ago|reply
The problem with Google glass was just the camera! We can do it better!
[+] [-] BaconJuice|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] colechristensen|6 years ago|reply
The only voice recognition I am comfortable with would run on open source software on hardware I owned and physically possessed. I have looked and this doesn’t seem to really exist.
[+] [-] mackrevinack|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hourislate|6 years ago|reply
http://www.fournines.co.jp/collections/2020/
The Frames are absolutely the best I have ever seen in my life. They can get expensive but absolutely worth it. Got a pair of these that are made of titanium. They are so light you forget you even have glasses on.
http://www.fournines.co.jp/products/detail233.html
They may have a shop in California.
[+] [-] Analemma_|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] markstos|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sannee|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] kodachi|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pkaye|6 years ago|reply