Matthew A Funk

I think Intel made great use of using Google Glass’ failures to build their [future] success. Two main features of Glass inhibited its adoption: cost and style. At $1,500, most people simply could not afford to become adopters of smart glasses. Intel removing unnecessary technology should drive down the price and allow more people to access the technology, which typically drives adoption. Also, Vaunt seems far more normal looking and stylish. From the image, I can’t tell that they are smart glasses. I think that the key to smart glass success will be getting people to actually wear them frequently. Smart glasses will need to make use of the “tipping point” effect and get just enough people to wear them to the point where everyone will want a pair. After that, smart glasses will be “normal” and focus may eventually shift from style to technological capability.

I agree that too many features were packed into Google glasses, which enabled the product almost useless due to stylistic concerns. However, another product that was recently released, Snapchat’s spectacles also were a form of wearable tech that completely tanked. Although these glasses were more unique, they lost the company almost $40 Million. They were also a very specific product that chose only a couple of functionalities versus many. Intel’s new product may work, but there is not a very promising past as evidenced by other companies’ failures.

Matt – this is a great find. I agree with Intel’s strategy, these do look hip and stylish. However, I do wonder what they will cost compared to the Google Glass. It looks like Intel is releasing an early access program like Google did. However, Google never went to market outside of their beta platform so there isn’t anything to compare Vaunt’s future price point to. The glasses seem like they will run on a similar platform to the Google Glass, where developers will have open access to create applications for the glasses, and users will [assumably] control the glasses uses a smartphone application. When you were reading about these, what features did you notice Vaunt was going to get rid of that previous versions of AR glasses had, notable Google Glass? From my experience using Google Glass (courtesy of Mart Doyle), the features were fairly minimal, however you had the ability to load additional applications on to the glasses. Lastly, I remember there were privacy concerns with smart eye-ware in general about the ability to take pictures and record video without people knowing. I wonder how Intel will mitigate those concerns among the public with Vaunt.

I’ve experienced working in both a a flat and a tall organization over the last 3 years and definitely see the benefits of a flat organization. At my current company the organizational structure is flat and because of that executives feel very approachable and many of the employees interact regularly with directors and VP’s . This has created a culture where it feels like everyone is apart of one team and there is a trust of the leaders. At my old job it was a tall organization and I saw it cause a lot of anger towards the executives. I remember my manager and other managers on his level regularly bad mouthing the executives and the overall feeling that what they do interferes with our work.

To read more on flat organizations check out this link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/07/13/the-5-types-of-organizational-structures-part-3-flat-organizations/#1e40aad6caa5