[reidmain]

The phone manufacturers have been doing this for so long that they have the process down to an art. While I think Google could gain this ability in the future nothing they have done with hardware so far makes me believe they have the ability to drastically overhaul hardware in a short period of time. If they do radically change the Google Glass hardware so that it doesn't have the "glasshole" look or drastically improve the software I will be shocked.

It is entirely possible that I am wrong. But the look of Google Glass has barely changed since it was unveiled in the beginning of 2012. If they are truly going to try to push a consumer version of a brand new line of products you better be damn sure that when someone puts on Google Glass they instantly become attached to it. They want to know where they can get one. To do that you gotta test the hell out of it and make sure there are no sharp edges. That hardware would need to start getting into people's hands now and if they've just released a new model how much runway are they going to give between releasing the "golden master" version to their tester and getting it to market?

I've used Google Glass personally and seen dozens of people try it on around me as well. Most of the reactions are "Oh that is cool" but none want to actually buy the product. Compare that to the Occulus Rift where the people I've seen use it want to know when they will be able to buy it.