Column: Throwing Shade on the New Facebook Ray-Bans | Opinion | thepilot.com

Where have you gone, Tom Cruise? A nation turns its lonely Ray-Bans to you — and snaps a picture.You’ve likely seen the news by now about the new “Ray-Ban Stories.” Those are the Facebook-Ray-Ban mash-up sunglasses that take pictures and video, play music and answer the phone. They’ll also shield your eyes from the sun’s glare — or perhaps offer cover from fellow Ray-Ban-sporting paparazzi on your morning mocha run.The glasses-as-camera category is not a new one. Those of you who recently reached into the backs of your closet for a sweater and came across your long-neglected Google Glass will know what I’m talking about. Or perhaps you sported “Snap Spectacles” for all of the five minutes they were the next big thing. These pairs of eyewear, by the social media site Snapchat, were more ephemeral than a user’s post on Snapchat. Prior attempts at wearable recording devices were very “of the moment” — for a moment.It’s not like Facebook is entirely new to the game of getting consumers to strap crap to their faces. You can still get an Oculus virtual reality headset and enter the “multiverse.” But such devices tend to have an inverse relationship to coolness. You…
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