Official reason
Shift from consumer Explorer to enterprise Glass.
Google · Wearables
Google Glass (Explorer)
RIP
2013–2015 · 2 years in market
A face-mounted computer that made civilians into ‘Glassholes.’ Privacy panic killed the consumer edition; enterprise limped on.
Launched
Apr 15, 2013
Discontinued
Jan 19, 2015
Cause of death
Privacy backlash
What actually happened
Social license was never granted. A $1,500 prototype was sold as a product, in public, with a camera at eye level.
Lesson
Wearable cameras need a social contract first. Do not ship a prototype as a lifestyle accessory.
Similar products that survived
Meta
Ray-Ban Meta
Cameras in glasses, with a much quieter form factor.
Related autopsies
RIP
Google Offers
2011–2013 · 2 yrs
Google’s Groupon clone, launched at the peak of daily-deal mania and gone with the bubble.
Commerce/Too early / too late+40
RIP
Google Reader
2005–2013 · 8 yrs
The RSS reader a generation of journalists and power users treated as a daily driver. Killed as RSS faded and Google chased social.
Media & Publishing/Low usage+39
RIP
Google Trips
2016–2019 · 3 yrs
Offline travel itineraries from Gmail reservations. Folded into Maps and Assistant.
Maps & Local/Replaced by successor+37
RIP
Google Moderator
2008–2015 · 7 yrs
Crowd-ranked questions for town halls and keynotes. Quietly useful, quietly killed.
Social/Low usage+36