How Meta Turned Smart Glasses Into 'Hot Surveillance Summer' (with Taylor Lorenz)

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.

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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