Snapchat…but for your face
Snapchat has changed its name to Snap Inc. The company also announced its first wearable, called “Spectacles.” Like the name says, its a pair of glasses that record video. Senior tech correspondent Molly Wood explains why wearable video capture is as obvious as the nose on your face.
The company needs to grow:
“There’s only so long that Snapchat alone, the sort of fun messaging company, can sustain you, so they’re doing this very interesting and I would argue, related, growth strategy into capture, into cameras.”
It’s not like Google Glass:
A lot of times in the history of technology, the first thing that comes along is not the thing that people are ready for, it is too expensive and it doesn’t work well. Those things were all true with Google Glass. These snap spectacles are none of that. They are meant to be purely fun, they are overtly silly in terms of design. You’re not going to fool anybody by wearing them, and they only do 30 seconds of video. They have a much more focused aim, which I think Google Glass could have used, they’re pretty cheap at $130, and frankly they almost have to work better than Google Glass.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
