back to article Your emotionally absent pic-snapping partner's going to look you in the eye again

Memory monetisation has arrived in the UK today with the launch of Snap Spectacles. Snap is best known for enabling millennials to send silly self-deleting pics, but since its IPO it has been keen to reinvent itself as a camera company. The product was first announced in September and has been available in the US for several …

  1. Baldrickk

    Why would anyone want one of these?

    They look terrible.

    Besides, a camera, or phone held so that you are looking at the screen or through a viewfinder will be from "a human perspective" so again, why?

    Only purpose is making you look like a Tw_t

    1. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
      WTF?

      Re: Why would anyone want one of these?

      You mean everyone isn't looking for a "I'm a loser" badge to wear in public?

    2. TeeCee Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: Why would anyone want one of these?

      Actually there is a serious purpose.

      The rest of us will be able to spot Snapchat lusers much more easily and save us having to find out that they're a twat the hard way.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Why would anyone want one of these?

      Many interesting photo are made from unusual, innovative points of view.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        WTF?

        Re: Why would anyone want one of these?

        I hardly ever take a photograph of anything as I'm not "wired" for visual. When I do, on my Sony Cybershot, I compose the photo using it's screen. I've been told my photos have high composition, whatever the frag that is. Trying to do the same thing with a pair of camera mounted glasses is well nigh on impossible to me. So I'll take a pass on this.

      2. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

        Re: Why would anyone want one of these?

        Many interesting photo are made from unusual, innovative points of view.

        As anyone watching Jackass can attest.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Why would anyone want one of these?

      I think making them look tacky was a goal. They want them to stand out, to build brand association. I think it is a pretty smart design for the target market. Reg readers, especially those over 25, are not the target market.

  2. Your alien overlord - fear me

    "From a human perspective" - as opposed to what? A slug?

  3. JimC

    "privacy is theft"

    Ah yes, the maxim that big internet advertising lives by... (Do no evil is just so, well, last decade...)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "privacy is theft"

      What sucks is this isn't even an advertising business model anymore. It's an investor scam based on the promise that super effective (intrusive) advertising will work in the future.

      Stupid tech bubble destroying people's privacy for nothing. Please hurry up and collapse.

    2. Doctor_Wibble
      Boffin

      Re: "privacy is theft"

      Would it be possible to counter these with a pair of specs with a couple of IR LEDs, or maybe a cunningly designed brooch or lapel flower with them?

      Or on a hat, or whatever gratuitous bling you have hanging around (etc).

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    There's no photo of the specs...how do we know who to punch?

    1. Snivelling Wretch

      Oh, you will know; you'll just know.

    2. Will 28

      Go to the BBC website, Rory Cellan-Jones is already there wearing a pair. That gives you two independent identifiers for who you should punch.

      1. Tachikoma

        Not nearly as bad as Spencer Kelly, that man has a face you want to smack and about as much technical knowledge as a cocker spaniel.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Rory iCellan-Shill knows what he's paid to know.

      2. Robert Helpmann??
        Childcatcher

        Who to punch?

        You could go to the product web site (https://www.spectacles.com/), but you only have yourself to blame if you do.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Who to punch?

          You could go to the product web site (https://www.spectacles.com/), but you only have yourself to blame if you do.

          Excellent website. I just looked at it from Belgium and it immediately breaks the language laws here by only offering French, and being the annoying sort I want Flemish - and there isn't an option for someone who doesn't read French to change it (there is one in French, but I did mention I'm the annoying sort - it's more fun to shop them to the authorities for it, because they're worth it :) ).

          1. Not also known as SC

            Re: Who to punch?

            @AC

            "... I just looked at it from Belgium and it immediately breaks the language laws here by only offering French, and being the annoying sort I want Flemish ..."

            As someone who is married to a Belgian from the Antwerp area I felt you deserved an up vote for this!

            EDIT - Actually they do have a Flemish site - https://www.spectacles.com/be-nl/ = it's the first one in the list when you select the country you live in to change sites. Oh well - I'll have to hate them for another reason such as they look bloody awful.

  5. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

    Teal and Coral aren't real colours.

    I'll accept black. But people in marketing have been getting away with making up new colours for years now. I'm not sure I can cope with more than about ten. Say the colours of felt tip pen I had as a kid, plus black and white...

    I presume they've forgotten about the people who already wear glasses.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Teal was invented in 1995 by BillGates.

      You can cite me on this because el reg is a reputable source.

    2. Mike 16

      Teal (the colour) is named for Teal (the bird), at least according to Duck Duck Go, who should know, being family.

      As for Coral, I recall several Coral IBM System 360s. Back before Marketing came up with "System 370" and wondered what engineering meant by calling them "System 10"

    3. MrDamage Silver badge

      Technically..

      > "Teal and Coral aren't real colours."

      Neither is black (or white). It's a hue.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Teal and Coral aren't real colours.

      Telling "glasses will come in Pantone 17-4919 TCX color" won't exactly help customers <G>. Nor if you try with RGB or L*A*B values....

      Fashion has been inventing colors for a long, long time. I remember an Italian Donald Duck tale "La Casacca Cosacca" (the "Cossack Coat" - 1963) where Donald Duck is deceived into buying a coat, the color of which is "marsh green at sunset yet not entirely evening" - a clear mock of some fashion-named colors.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Spectacles will be landing in Europe

    And will they make the shutter click sound that is legally required in places like France? I sense an incoming ECJ sueball...

    1. Ogi

      "And will they make the shutter click sound that is legally required in places like France? I sense an incoming ECJ sueball..."

      Hmm, that is required for photo cameras. However if you are recording video, what is the legal requirement? If any?

      I know that phones in franch make the clicky sound when a photo is taken, but videos seem to be silent. My old Nokia had a nice feature that if you were recording a video, a red LED would light up above the camera, so people knew when you were recording.

      No modern phones have that (afaik) and they haven't been sued to oblivion, so I suspect it will be ok if the specs record constant video (and allow you to share "freeze-frames" from the video as snapshots).

      1. 7-zark-7

        Just reading the frankly terrible website and a ring of LED's lights up on front to indicate video is being recorded.

        1. Dominion

          Are the flashing lights a signal that I can rip the bloody things off someone's head and stamp them into the ground?

          1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

            Simply apply a liberal amout of construction foam to the offending area.

            A lot of problems can be solved by applying liberal amouts of construction foam. Don't leave home without it.

  7. Potemkine Silver badge

    Thanks God...

    .. there are laws here to protect us against use and abuse of one's image.

    Anyone filming me and putting the video online without my consent can expect having to discuss with a Judge in court about it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Thanks God...

      Anyone filming me and putting the video online without my consent can expect having to discuss with a Judge in court about it.

      If you were in a public place at the time you have no comeback, since anyone could have watched you there & then.

      Filming in a non-public place would be different, of course.

      1. Potemkine Silver badge

        Re: Thanks God...

        If you were in a public place at the time you have no comeback, since anyone could have watched you there & then.

        No, it does not work that way where I live. Even if filmed in public, I still own my public image and the right to control how it is used.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Thanks God...

          Even if filmed in public, I still own my public image and the right to control how it is used.

          Nice one. I'm moving :). That said, I think there's something similar in Switzerland, I have a vague memory of that being the reason why it's technically illegal to run a dashcam (or maybe you need to register the device or something, it's been a while I came across that).

      2. hellwig

        Re: Thanks God...

        If you were in a public place at the time you have no comeback, since anyone could have watched you there & then.

        Unless you're a police officer. Filming them on the job is becoming more and more illegal. Or if you're an airline employee, or working at a slaughter house, etc... Plenty of places/occupations outside the home where you can't be filmed.

        But agreed, if you're an average joe in America, F-You buddy!

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I wouldn't wear them as I wouldn't want to make a spectacle of myself.

  9. noddybollock

    A Fool and their money........

    £129 quid,

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  10. Adrian 4
    Facepalm

    google glass

    So how are these better than google glass, which was apparently killed by tinfoil-hat-wearers who were convinced they were being constantly filmed ?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: google glass

      Because there won't be idiots wearing them all the time. It is intended to wear during just those occasions you want to record, while Google was talking up Glass as something you'd use constantly - talking up future uses like wearing it when driving to give directions, or wearing while shopping to show price comparison.

      The purpose of Spectacles is recording ONLY, and Snap videos are very short, so you probably won't see someone at a bar wearing them all night long asking to be punched.

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