Here in the optical world, news that Google are working on “augmented reality eyewear” is being greeted with interest, granted, but it’s the kind of interest you show when a neighbour announces they are, for example, going to convert all their domestic electrical equipment to run on chicken droppings. Perhaps “bemusement” is a better word.
Answers on a postcard as to who this woman is? Anyone?
I dare say however that the A-to-Z map people (remember them?) felt the same way about Google’s first foray into cartography; similarly, Nokia probably chuckled around their Finnish boardroom table at the first announcement of Google’s Android Phone. “Google? Phones? Ho ho ho” etc, and now look. From Finnish to finished in under 5 years.
In fact, new branch-outs announced by the Chocolate Factory are frequently greeted with this kind of absolute surprise. To those who don’t follow the rumour blogs, most of Googles’ departures from their existing product range have been utterly unexpected. Often therefore an announcement that they are going into field X seems, as Douglas Adams once said, “not so much unlikely, more a sort of mismatching of concepts, like the idea of the Suez crisis popping out for a bun.”
However, the thing about Google is it’s like all tech evolution but speeded up a billion kazillion times, mainly because they have so many people, so much money, so much…. STUFF. One day, a bizarre, novel idea emerges; the next day they’ve cornered the world with it and former household brand names are relegated to the status of punchlines in nerdy jokes.
So while – in these early, naïve days – the usefulness of these Goggles will be limited to trivial, playtime features, it’s probably a good idea not to dismiss it all so quickly. One minute, it’ll be all “proof of concept” and “beta”; the next thing you know, everyone will stop buying televisions. The Sony, LG and Panasonic guys will find themselves hanging out with the Nokia, A-to-Z and Lycos dudes. At the Job Centre.
However, in the short term, expect lots of hilarious throwaway apps allowing you to put comedy face-masks on friends and imagine people with no clothes on. Sounds ok, actually.
Posted on: April 13th, 2012 by Mark H
So, after asking what you guys thought of a book club, we got A BIG THUMBS UP!
For those who love reading, whether it be a good ol’ paper back, a Kindle or Kobo we want you to join our GD Book Worm Club and if you’d like to (and we very much hope you do) read on for how it works.
Each month, we’ll ask you guys to submit your reviews on a book you’ve read, which will then be posted onto our blog. Whichever review gets the most happy comments WINS!! Now we’re not daft. We know you guys are busy enough as it is, so we wouldn’t expect you to give up your time and carefully crafted words without a little give-back from us. So each monthly winner will receive a prize as well as a pair of glasses and this April, the winner will receive one of our goody bags from last week’s press event. Like what you see below? It could be yours. All you need to do is email us your review, along with a picture of yourself with the book your reviewing. Simples.
Email your entries to: gdwin@glassesdirect.com
And don’t forget to include a picture of yourself with the book!
(If you’re camera shy, just the book will do but we’d rather see your lovely faces!)
Not actual size. Obviously.
Contents:
Your book review can be on any subject matter. Here are a few to get you thinking (and reading, we hope!)
Cooking
Films
Romance
Fiction Books & Literature
Graphic Novels
Horror
Mystery & Crime
Poetry
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Thrillers
Home & Garden
Humor Books
Diet & Health
Biography
Good Luck and we can’t WAIT to read your reviews and recommendations!
Posted on: April 13th, 2012 by Sarah
For all you tech-loving people out there, our Chief Technology Officer, Mark Wood explains the ins and outs of what goes on behind the scenes at GD. Literally.
‘Since starting here in April 2011 I’ve had the opportunity (and challenge!) to completely build the technology team back up from a base where the existing team was failing and the Technology team was not delivering change and driving GlassesDirect forward. Building new teams is something that I’ve been lucky enough to do a few time before, especially during my time at Betfair but this was my first time as an organisation’s CTO. There are many aspects to building a successful new team from bringing in the right talent to choosing which fires to fight first to implementing the right processes and tackling inertia already within an organisation but for the purpose of this first posting I’ll tackle a subject close to my heart, the product deliver process. In my opinion software development is a modern day manufacturing process, in the way that car production or other factory based manufacturing is seen and I am a firm believer that if the business approaches it with this mentality it this will help drive the business in the right direction in terms of interacting and thinking about how to use this valuable resource but still appreciating the human aspect of it.
The delivery process we have chosen is agile.During my time at Tradefair and then subsequently back at Betfair I worked to roll out agile (SCRUM specifically) development to teams and that is what we have implemented here at GlassesDirect. My experience of this methodology really showed me this was the way to provide the stakeholders and customers with control of WHAT gets built, ensures they are EMPOWERED to make the PRIORITY calls and understand the COST of the requests that are raised. It crucially also really helps promote responsibility and accountability for story delivery and issue resolution within the Technology team whilst also avoiding death marches and unsatisfied stakeholders.
So what size team is involved in the change here at GlassesDirect.com? It has fluctuated, but currently 1 x QA, 8 x Dev / Architecture / FE and 1 product manager plus a 2 x Dev Ops / Sys Admin / office support team. I like to think of it as small but incredibly nicely formed. We have followed the SCRUM process tightly but now, after 9 months of running with this, the team is really starting to flavour the ceremonies and processes to the way we want to work and the specific challenges we have to face. Whether this is through the daily pointing of stories with integrated tasking, or through the revolving of the ScrumMaster function (we don’t have a dedicated ScrumMaster here) throughout the team.
It has taken a while to roll out Scrum within the organisation. Rolling a new process out to a technology team poses one set of issues, but we had another challenge which was establishing a product function and then get the stakeholders to understand and start playing by the new rules. I’m pleased to say that this is something that is really getting traction within the organisation now and the route from idea through to delivered product is well understood and has become part of people’s thinking. The process feels current and it is as simple as it could be, although there is always room for improvement (I’ll be writing a blog on retrospectives and why all teams should have them later on). Within our 2 week sprints we can see products moving rapidly from idea to production and start gaining immediate business benefit. And, if I take the months of Feb and March we have delivered 129 points worth of stories and 67 new features / defect fixes have been deployed to production.
We’ve decided to go with Rally (http://www.rallydev.com/) as our agile management tool of choice. It is built specifically for Scrum and after a learning period which, was as much about learning the new Scrum process as the tool itself we now see it as an integral part of our tool set which helps us deliver to the level we do.
The GD Tech Team's Link Wall
Changing or implementing a new process is never easy, especially if people already have preconceived ideas about what agile ‘means’. My experience here was that agile/Scrum was very confused with hot housing a team and creating a new, rapidly evolved product in a very short time-boxed period. This took time to change but the real catalyst was when people began to see the changes both in process but also in the delivery of new features. Personally, I’m excited by the next level we are moving toward technically, which is the ability to take more advantage of our excellent automated test coverage, development processes and to push on towards continuous deployment (we’re getting really quite close)!
Maybe the next blog should be about the toolset and the development mentality we have here, would that be of interest? Please let me know and if you’d like to discuss this or anything else in the tech blog please feel free to drop me a mail – mark.wood@glassesdirect.com
Posted on: April 13th, 2012 by Sarah
Lady Gaga and Sean Lennon show us how to wear retro frames
As well as the 40s being a major player in the style-games at the moment, the soulful sounds of the 50s have been making a comeback too. With the deaths of three very talented artists; Etta James, Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston this year, soul music isn’t just finding its voice again, it’s becoming hugely vocal in the fashion industry too.
GD's Cowboy
There has been a plethora of celebrities going for the retro eyewear option. Lady Gaga (seen above with John Lennon’s son, Sean) really prettys up a pair of aviator frames, whilst Sean Lennon showcases his family jeans, looking timelessly handsome in a classic wayfarer style. More recently, US songwriter and singer, Raphael Saadiq has been snapped working a pair of retro spectacles into his sartorial attire very nicely.
Raphael Saadiq in mai-Tai-a-likes.
GD Mai Tai
Shop from London Retro’s new line for more retro inspired silhouettes.
Fancy trying the look yourself, without the commitment? No problem. Our FREE Home Trial allows to you pick up to 4 frames which we’ll deliver to your home or work so that you can test them out on your mates/colleagues/family/dog before you make your mind up. Personally, we’re really liking the Mai Tai for a lightweight unisex option.
Posted on: March 26th, 2012 by Sarah
We were really excited when a sneak-peek of London Retro’s new ad campaign landing in our inbox this morning. Shot on location in London’s coolest northern spots, the new collection has moved on to a more 70s inspired vibe with aviator silhouettes, tortoiseshells rounds and preppy tones of navy and red being introduced into the sartorial collection. With names such as ‘Ronnie’, ‘Suzy’, ‘Kiki’ and ‘Sherlock’ included into the 70s vibe of London Retro’s second season, we’re all set for a rather psychedelic summer in the city.
Here’s some exclusive shots from yesterday’s shoot in London.
Straight from the camera...
Shop the collection, here: http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/londonretro/
Posted on: March 6th, 2012 by Sarah
This week we were really chuffed, but not surprised to see Martin Scorsese receiving the BAFTA’s Academy Fellowship Award, an honorary award given for outstanding and exceptional contribution to film.
Scorsese Scoops the best Bafta of all.
The diminutive director arrived on stage in his trade mark thick black specs to a huge ovation and makes a heartfelt speech, full of the genuine love of film that informs and characterises his own portfolio of outstanding work. The American, whose films include Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Aviator and most recently the Bafta award winning Hugo, picked up the award at the ceremony at the Royal Opera House, London on Sunday evening. Previous winners include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg and Dame Judi Dench. Simply put, he’s in good and correct company.
John Lennon black JL09B
Scorsese said: “It is a great honour to be recognised by the British Academy and to join the ranks of such an esteemed group of industry colleagues and friends.”
Inspired? Shop for Scorsese style frames, here.
Posted on: February 14th, 2012 by Sarah
Corden and Jagger channel Sellers and Ekland
Its official, Peter Sellers-style specs are in Vogue. Well, Harpers Bazaar actually, but either way the thick rimmed classics are having a fashion moment this month with funnyman James Corden sporting a pair whilst he and model Georgia May Jagger pay tribute to the iconic duo of the swinging 60s, Peter Sellers and Bond Girl Britt Ekland.
Posing with Mick Jagger’s model-daughter Georgia May Jagger, the former Gavin and Stacey star was snapped by Harpers Bazaar reclining on a chair wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses similar to the ones sported by Sellers, as Jagger cuddles him from behind, looking sexy in a sixties-inspired cream patterned dress. An admirer of Sellers and his notoriety in having the ability to laugh some of the most attractive women into bed, James, who has achieved huge success of late with his run in West End play ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ said he’s been inspired by the comedian from the beginning of his comedy career.
Eco brand Element's Hopper
He said: ‘I worked out pretty early on that if you look like I do then you sure as sh!t had better make the girls laugh if you wanted to get anywhere.
The newly slimed down actor has apparently gone down from 21 to 16 stone, aiming for another 2Ib loss before he hits New York with his critically acclaimed production. The 33-year-old actor is believed to have gone from 21 stone to 16 stone, and is thought to be aiming to shed another 21lbs before hitting New York with his critically-acclaimed production.
Channel the funnyman’s look. A sure fired hit with the ladies:
The Oscar frame
Posted on: February 2nd, 2012 by Sarah
Oldman: Hoping to replace the Berlin Bear with an Oscar this year?
Reported in today’s London Metro, British actor Gary Oldman has been nominated for an Oscar. We actually find it quite surprising that the massively talented and respected actor hasn’t won as Oscar yetm let alone receive a nomination.
Oldman said he was ‘shocked’ to learn he was up for an Oscar after he failed to win a Golden Globe or Screen Actors Guild nomination for his role as spymaster George Smiley in ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’.
‘It is extremely humbling, gratifying and delightful to have your work recognised by the Academy,’ he said.
The British actor will battle Demian Bichir, George Clooney, Jean Dujardin and Brad Pitt for the prize.
While Clooney is predicted to win, there was no doubt in the minds of film fans on Twitter who deserved the award the most – Oldman, who bagged his first Academy Award nomination today for his role as George Smiley in the spy thriller; ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’.
Oldman: Spec-idol for many a distinguished gent:
Shop using our style finder, here: http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/retro-glasses/
Posted on: January 25th, 2012 by Sarah
Above: She wears ‘Miller’.
With disposable consumerism seemingly reaching an all-time high, we felt compelled to look into a way of keeping our carbon footprint’s mileage down, so when we came across eclectic eyewear brand Element we were pretty chuffed. Not only does this brand and its bunch of eco-warriors recycle acetate and metal to make their 10-strong-and-growing collection of specs, they also make their designs contemporary and wearable, too.
Norton; our personal Element favs:
Norton
Now, don’t get us wrong, we love a bit of doing good and therefore feeling good, but sometimes it’s tough finding eco-conscious products that won’t compromise on style, so the fact that ’Team Element’ have cracked the common ’Eco V’s Stylish’ dilemma with such brilliance, makes us love the collection even more.
Shop The Collection Here: http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/element-glasses/
We caught up with Element designer; Olivia Steel to get the 411 on what makes the designer and her team tick when it comes to creating eco-friendly glasses:
GD: So what made you decide to take up the challenge of designing recyclable frames? Not that we’re complaining, of course!
OS: We noticed that there wasn’t anything out there that offered stylish, affordable and eco-conscious glasses. So we decided to do something about it.
GD: So how do you do it?
OS: Well, when a frame is cut out of acetate, there are always off-cuts left over. We collect all of these up, merge them together (all colours and prints together) to make more Element acetate and therefore create Element frames. Our metal frames are made from all manner of recyclable metals, too and each frame comes with a case that is made from a mixture of recycled iron, recycled plastic bottles and 50% recycled blister material (we’re working on the other 50%).
GD: So what about the styles? Where do you guys get your inspiration from?
OS: Our trend analysts keep their highly trained fingers on the fashion pulse to ensure that we’re creating stylish and wearable frames. We also take inspiration from renowned scientists specialising in the effects of climate change as well as silver screen stars who’ve become role models for environmentally conscious living.
GD: Ah yes, we’ve spotted a few frames who’s names ring a bell!
OS: Yeah, we had tons of fun coming up with those names….We’re also really intent on our frames being affordable without compromising on durability and quality, and features such as sprung hinges and hypoallergenic acetate are included in our design processes.
GD: And your personal favourite?
OS: I’ve a soft spot for Caprio, but I think that the Natalie is gorgeous too- the red is my favourite.
GD: Thanks Oliva! we’ve ordered our favourite (the Norton, fyi) already!
Caprio
Natalie
Shop the collection here: http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/element-glasses/
Posted on: January 18th, 2012 by Sarah
We’re doing something different here at Glasses Direct and it’s always nice to be recognised for it. We’ve been included in the Top 20 of a prestigious awards table that looks at the fastest growing technology companies in the UK.
The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 is based on official financial reports for technology companies over five years. Glasses Direct is in at 19th position with a turnover growth of 2098% over the past 5 years.
This is fantastic news for us and we’re delighted that Glasses Direct has received so much support in a tough economic climate. Consistent value for our customers and new ways to shop (like our home trial service) means that more and more people are choosing to buy from us. More futuristic ideas, such as the video mirror, allow us to keep ahead of competitors and grow during this time of economic uncertainty.
Thanks to all the staff, partners and (most importantly of all), our customers who helped make this happen. Here’s to the next 5 years!
Posted on: October 27th, 2009 by Jamie
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