Google Glass’s chances of being a big commercial hit aren’t very good if it keeps losing fans left and right. Earlier this month we brought you the tale of Jeff Jarvis, the longtime Google fanboy who came out and admitted that he “*hates*” Google Glass so much that he feels “embarrassed” for ever having ordered one. Now CNET reports that Chris Barrett, another Google Glass early adopter who famously tried his luck at bringing Glass with him into a casino, has all but stopped wearing the headset because it regularly gave him pounding headaches.
“I have it on my desk every day, but I just don’t have a good enough reason to wear it,” he tells CNET. “It’s not worth the headache. I get my e-mails on my laptop or iPhone if I’m on the go.”
Barrett, who has no history of getting headaches from looking at screens, says that Google should issue some kind of warning with Glass since many people who get headaches from it might not understand that Glass is the cause. In response, Google tells CNET that “health and safety are extremely important to the Glass team, and we’ve been working with eye care professionals from the very beginning to ensure that the device is safe for use” while noting that “in our help center, we do encourage new Explorers to ease into Glass, just as they would a new pair of glasses.”
The wearable computing market right now is very much in its early stages and companies such as Google and Samsung are all feverishly trying to experiment with different platforms that will make computers more part of our everyday apparel. Given this, it shouldn’t be too surprising that early models are giving early adopters both literal and figurative headaches.
