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Meta and the Battle for Smart Glasses | Prize on the Eyes | 1

Overview

Shownote

Highlights

Transcript

Chapters

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Meta and the Battle for Smart Glasses | Prize on the Eyes | 1

Business Wars

Jun 03
Business Wars

Business Wars

Jun 03
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

It’s 2011, and two Stanford students have built eyeglasses with a tiny camera inside. Their a prototype paves the way for Meta Ray-Bans, the first tech-enabled eyewear to truly go mainstream after attempts like Google Glass fizzled. But in integrating their smart glasses into our daily lives, Meta has created something else: a tool for mass surveillance.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Highlights

This podcast explores the journey of smart glasses from a Stanford student prototype to the mainstream success of Meta Ray-Bans, revealing how this technology has evolved into a powerful tool for mass surveillance.
00:00
Meta's smart glasses enable mass surveillance.
18:01
Brin pushed AR glasses as a passion project.
28:26
Snapchat acquires Vergence Labs for $15 million.
31:42
Google Glass failed due to overhyped expectations and privacy concerns.
49:46
Meta's smart glasses are set to become a major hardware product with the addition of generative AI.

Chapters

From Stanford Dorm Room to Surveillance Tool: The Birth of Smart Glasses
00:00
Vergence Labs and the Indiegogo Gamble: How Epiphany Eyewear Got Its Start
11:02
The Skydiving Spectacle: Google Glass's Daring Debut and Its Fatal Flaws
21:34
The 'Glasshole' Backlash and Snapchat's Playful Pivot with Spectacles
31:42
Meta's Copycat Success: How Ray-Ban Stories Became a Buzzy Hardware Product and a Privacy Nightmare
42:46

Transcript

David Brown: Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Business Wars ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. It's 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya. A data labeler clocks in for his shift and lets out a heavy sigh. He does not wa...