Comedian Stephen Colbert unveiled his own “Google Glasses” on last night’s Colbert Report. Stephen’s been known to make light of new technology, and tonight was no exception. His Glass is made of a pocket calculator taped to a pair of wire frame glasses and he has to take it off to use it. The Glass bit starts out the clip below, it’s followed by a hilarious look at Maryland’s 4th district.
Colbert had asked Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt for Glass in his interview with him on April 23rd, but was flatly denied. Schmidt let Colbert know that Glass was only currently available for “qualified developers”. So Stephen Colbert took matters into his own hands, or… well, onto his own face. His version of glass might not have a lot of the functionality of Google’s new wearable tech, but it doesn’t look any less ridiculous. My favorite part is when he removes his “Google Glasses” to use the calculator. “Google Glasses, what’s 4 plus 4?”
Since the “Explorer” editions of Google Glass started showing up in the wild, there has been a lot of joking around the devices. The fact that Glass is so strange looking is no small factor in the satire and Colbert’s silly contraption works as a gag precisely because it captures that goofiness. This is the latest in a series of pop cultural lampooning of Google Glass and the folks who love it. Leave it to Steven Colbert to take a joke that’s already getting tired and make it more hilarious than ever. If only it was this easy to make your own Google Glass!
Bonus: Another late night host, Conan O’Brien had a great spoof of Glass recently as well! The Glass jokes just don’t quit!