It’s the end of the road for Google Glass. For now!

Were you into Google Glass? Probably not. So the initial news that Google is halting production of its weirdo eyewear, reported by BBC News, should be no surprise to the fashionable masses. While there were always a few “Glassholes” in the crowd at Fashion Week, the general consensus was that Google Glass looked awkward, and that only poseurs/wannabes/the bravest of the IDGAF crowd would be caught wearing them.

But here’s the thing: Google Glass is not dead. In fact, its future has arguably never looked brighter. While Google has indeed stopped making the $1,500 eyewear, which lets you do stuff like read your email, map your travel, and take photos, the team who was leading it now reports to one of the most successful product guys in the business. Tony Fadell is the CEO of Nest, the company that makes well-designed, sensor-driven thermostats and smoke detectors. (Google bought Nest in 2014 for $3.2 billion.) Fadell was also the senior vice president of the iPod division for almost three years in the aughts, and has been called “one of the fathers of the iPod.” He is a master of making stuff look good, which is great for Glass, given that its aesthetic was—in many critics’ opinions—one of its biggest roadblocks to adoption.

In its blog post explaining the move, Glass execs gave the following statement: “January 19 will be the last day to get the GlassExplorer Edition. In the meantime, we’re continuing to build for the future, and you’ll start to see future versions of Glass when they’re ready. (For now, no peeking.)”

Who knows when a new version of Google Glass will be available? Maybe a year. Maybe two or three. But it’s going to happen. Here’s why. While fitness-tracking bracelets and handbags that charge you phone might be novel, their uses are limited. Anyone who has seen the movie Her—where Joaquin Phoenix not only falls in love with his operating system, but also wears eyewear that operates very much like GoogleGlass—can believe that in the future, we’ll happily read our emails through a pair of lenses instead of via a handheld phone. Any product that delivers efficiency and ease is going to succeed.

But it has to look good, too. Of course, credit must be given to Diane von Furstenberg, an early adopter of Glass and the first to put it on the runway, for designing the chicest pair out there. But for Google Glass to truly go mainstream, it’s going to have to be a lot prettier next time around. And we have a feeling it will be.

Source: Elle

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