In the tech world, some ideas just won’t die. And so Snapchat is the latest company to try to make smart glasses catch on. Available in coral, black or teal, its Spectacles record 10 seconds of video at a time and the format, in the shape of a circle, means the footage is playable, once sent to your phone, as either landscape or portrait. “Spectacles are the best way to make memories,” says the company, which has signalled its grand ambitions by changing its name to Snap Inc.
There’s the distinct whiff of a marketing gimmick about this, because Spectacles are not only expensive ($130 — just over £100) but limited in supply. You have to buy them from pop-up vending machines called Snapbots, whose locations are revealed only a short time before they appear. None has appeared in Europe.
The reason I’m cynical about the mainstream appeal of Spectacles is that the defining feature of much social media is an appearance of authenticity that has been painstakingly created. Think of all those Instagram pictures of perfect plates of berries; the heavily edited video chats of YouTube stars such as Zoella; or those “candid” celebrity selfies that turn out to rely heavily on Photoshop.
In the 1990s there was a craze for broadcasting all your movements, 24 hours a day, via a clip-on camera attached to a cap or lapel. But it didn’t really catch on, because most people’s lives are mundane. The TV series Big Brother also shows that voyeurism has diminishing returns: the final of its first series in 2000 was watched by 10m people, whereas the first episode of the 17th series in June managed only 1.5m.
And there’s another problem: even when hi-tech glasses have cool features, people find them a bit dorky. Google Glass attracted excited chatter when supply was limited but once they went on sale the magic evaporated. Wearers were branded “glassholes” and even fans found them clunky and intrusive.
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Still, part of me hopes that Spectacles do catch on. No more standing in an art gallery or at a gig looking through a forest of camera phones. Heaven.
Helen Lewis is deputy editor of the New Statesman
@helenlewis
Apps to change your life: Last-minute Christmas
Touchnote
Free, Android, Apple
Three posting days until Christmas! For cards, try Touchnote: upload a photo or use one of its designs and type in text, and the service will post it before Wednesday. Cards from £4
Giftcloud
Free, Android, Apple
Left it too late to buy a present? Shop up to Christmas Day with Giftcloud: pick gift cards from shops and restaurants, and the recipient will receive a digital card and code via email.
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Hungryhouse
Free, Android, Apple
If the turkey’s not defrosted or the oven blows up, turn to a takeaway, even on Christmas Day. Hungryhouse lets you browse menus and order deliveries from local restaurants.
Matt Bingham
Don’t panic: your problems solved
I aim to tour Europe in the summer in my motor home. Can I “tether” my laptop to my smartphone and use data roaming to stream films as I go?
TY, Dorchester
Tethering involves a smartphone creating a wireless hotspot to which you connect another device so it accesses the internet via the phone’s mobile data connection. Your plan will work, but you’ll have to park where you can get a strong, fast connection: even in standard definition a film requires up to 1GB of data. Then there’s the cost — all too easily you’ll be in pricy pay-by-the-megabyte territory. So download films when you have wi-fi; use tethering only for data-light services such as web browsing.
Matt Bingham
Email your tech queries to dontpanic@sunday-times.co.uk
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Test Bench: Digital mics
Best for use on the move
Shure Motiv MVL £55
An external microphone will transform the quality of audio recordings on a phone, tablet or computer. This one plugs into the headphone jack, clips on to clothes for interviews and has a free app for high-def editing on Apple devices. shure.co.uk
Best for home recording
Blue Microphones Raspberry £170
Set this up on a table to indulge your inner Churchill for podcasts, voice or video calls. It’ll fit in your pocket, connects over USB and works with HD recording software for iOS, Macs and PCs — but not all Android devices.
bluemic.com
Matt Bingham