In 2013, Google unveiled an ambitious experiment that captivated the tech world: Google Glass. Touted as a portal to the future, this augmented-reality headset promised to seamlessly meld our digital and physical realities. Journalists had been buzzing since 2012, and by its soft launch, industry pundits were confidently declaring the “year of wearable tech.” Yet, instead of a mass-market debut, Glass was exclusively released to a select group of ‘Explorers,’ predominantly in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In retrospect, this proved to be the project’s undoing. It starkly divided the tech landscape into literal “haves” and “have-nots,” with influential early adopters granted a glimpse into tomorrow while the rest of us were left to merely observe – and, disconcertingly, be observed. These Explorers quickly earned the moniker “Glassholes,” and concerns over privacy fuelled a slew of critical articles.
Then, without fanfare, it vanished. By 2015, commercial production had ceased, transforming what was once hailed as inevitable progress into a cautionary tale. Google Glass didn’t falter due to a lack of technical prowess. Its demise stemmed from Google’s fundamental misjudgement of the public’s appetite for a solution to a problem they simply didn’t have. This is a crucial lesson we too often overlook, particularly within the financial services sector: nor every innovation equates to progress. Sometime, genuine progress lies in enhancing what already works.
At its core, innovation is the act of creating something new. However, new doesn’t automatically translate to better. Financial services, especially payments, have witnessed their fair share of novelty over the last decade. Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) stands out as a particularly prominent example – disruptive, widely adopted and undeniably innovative. Yet, this model is now facing intense scrutiny and increasing regulatory pressure. Critics argue that BNPL encourages overextension, fosters poor financial habits and lacks the consumer protections inherent in traditional credit.
BNPL embodies a central tension in financial innovation: the quest for convenience clashing with the imperative to prevent exploitation. When the pace of innovation outstrips regulatory frameworks or ethical considerations, we risk developing systems that, while appearing sleek, ultimately prove unsustainable.
The past few years have also seen an explosion of blockchain-based financial products: decentralised finance (DeFi), NFTs, and a proliferation of altcoins and memecoins. Much of this activity promised to “democratise” finance and dismantle traditional systems. Yet, beyond a relatively niche audience, the vast majority of these projects have failed to achieve practical impact or long-term credibility. Their collapse or stagnation underscores the peril of mistaking mere novelty for genuine necessity.
