When you’ve got a hit, somebody’s gonna try to rip it off. The rule is almost universal, applying to erotic fiction books the same way it applies to iPhones. You could argue, then, that if nobody’s ripping off your work, you’re probably in trouble.
CNN reports that Chinese counterfeiters have declined to knock off wearables like Google Glass and smartwatches, possibly because nobody wants that crap.
If you followed last year’s analyst trends, you probably heard that 2014 would be the year of wearable technology. Smartwatches! Augmented reality! Buzzwords! CNN’s report would seem to indicate otherwise, pointing out the simple fact that if there were a dollar to be made on demand for these products, counterfeiters would have seized upon it the same way they do Kate Spade handbags and Rolexes. A quote from a source in CNN’s story:
[Counterfeiters] don’t care about the Gear as consumer demand is too weak,” said another shop assistant in his early twenties, who was selling a number of what he said were real Samsung products, but not the smart watch. “We don’t sell it anymore. It was not popular.”
So while wearable tech might be the buzziest tech we’re hearing about these days, it’s not clear that a market has emerged for it. If you’ve ever used Google Glass, you know that the spectacles are a pretty janky so far. As for the Sony Smartwatch, Samsung Galaxy Gear, or even Qualcomm’s half-decent Toq, none have the polish necessary to capture the imaginations of mainstream consumers — consequently counterfeiters aren’t dreaming about Glass either. That doesn’t mean wearable tech won’t ever be good. It just means it’s not good yet. [CNN via The Awl]