How Meta Turned Smart Glasses Into 'Hot Surveillance Summer' (with Taylor Lorenz)
About this episode
Amy Odell and Taylor Lorenz discuss the evolution of wearable tech and the implications of Meta's new smart glasses.
In this special episode in collaboration with the Power User podcast Amy Odell joins tech journalist Taylor Lorenz to trace the arc of wearable tech — from the abomination that was Google Glass to Snapchat's vending-machine Spectacles and the company's recent $2,000 flop. Also, why Meta's rollout of it's new $299 fashion-first AI glasses, odious as many find them, may end up being a smash hit. Follow Taylor's show Power User on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube, and subscribe to her newsletter, UserMag. Chapters: 00:00 Intro — why everyone's arguing about Meta's glasses 01:36 Turning a camera into a fashion accessory 01:55 Welcome + the "hot surveillance summer" question 02:45 Google Glass and the original abomination 04:16 Snapchat Spectacles, vending machines, and a $130 flop 06:48 GoPro and how sports normalized filming everything 08:55 Ray-Ban Stories (2021) and the "creep" problem 10:57 2025: Oakley Meta and the first AI glasses 11:55 2026: low-profile frames, rhinestones, and AI as the real sell 13:25 The influencer rollout and the decline of fashion media 18:39 Why Kylie Jenner 21:40 How phones already normalized recording everything 24:56 Fashion, plausible deniability, and…
People in this episode
Host: Amy Odell
Guest: Taylor Lorenz
Topics covered
- wearable tech
- smart glasses
- fashion
- surveillance
- AI technology
- influencer culture
Keywords
- smart glasses
- wearable technology
- Meta
- Google Glass
- Snapchat Spectacles
- AI glasses
- fashion accessories
- surveillance
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Meta, Google, Snapchat, GoPro, Ray-Ban, OpenAI
Products: Google Glass, Snapchat Spectacles, Ray-Ban Stories, Meta's new AI glasses
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