Sergey Brin reflects on the failure of Google Glass, acknowledging that rushing the product to market without sufficient polishing and cost-effectiveness was a mistake, drawing parallels to other tech failures like the Apple Newton, and emphasizing the importance of learning from such setbacks for future innovation.
The article discusses the risks and importance of live demos during tech product launches, highlighting how failures can demonstrate authenticity and build excitement, using examples from past and present tech events like Google I/O, Apple, and Meta Connect. It emphasizes that while failures can be embarrassing, they also reinforce the reality of the product, contrasting successful demos like Steve Jobs' FaceTime with less successful attempts by Zuckerberg.
The article discusses various products and technologies that were hyped as the 'next big thing' but ultimately failed to live up to expectations, including the Segway, Windows Phone, Google+, and 3D TV, among others.