Snap Inc. unceremoniously dropped its Snapchat Spectacles in front of its old Ocean Front Boardwalk headquarters and was sold through a bright yellow vending machine. Despite the low-key sale, it attracted a massive number of buyers and stocks were wiped out within four hours.
Snapbot Selling Spectacles
It seems that the vending machine, which Snap Inc. is calling the Snapbot, will figure prominently in the Spectacles initial rollout. As supply ran out at Venice Beach, the machine will again pop up in a still undisclosed location. According to Snap Inc., interested buyers will have to go to the Spectacles website in order to catch the location's announcement.
It is not clear how this strategy will pan out. There is a chance that it could get fans frustrated since the vending machine has been drawing long lines. Having to watch spectacles.com to hunt for its next location could aggravate some of the buyers' frustration regardless of how they covet the device.
Spectacles At eBay
To top it all, several Spectacles are already being sold at eBay for outrageous prices. The smart eyewear only retails for $129 but sellers in the popular auction website are asking for as much as $950.
Some fans could still pounce on those eBay deals given their enthusiasm for the wearable device. This is further stoked by a fresh statement from Snap Inc. that states Spectacles supply is only very limited as of the moment, driving some fans to a near state of frenzy. Several have expressed a desire to be first to own one while some are mainly curious with a new piece of technology. A number of these took to social media in varying states of excitement.
I'll lose my mind if they sell out of @Spectacles. @Snapchat @Snap pic.twitter.com/CtgTxCzmsZ
— Chris Chavez (@Gamercore) November 10, 2016
Given the success of Snapbot's initial foray into the wilds, Snap Inc. could already be mulling a full-scale Spectacles mass release. At this point, the company is still widely believed to be in the process of gauging consumer demand.
Snap's Camera Innovation
Spectacles was officially launched last September and has been previously referred to as a toy by Evan Spiegel, Snapchat's CEO. This has downplayed its potential impact in the fields of imaging technology due to its innovative video format, which the company said highlights how rectangular photograph is "an unnecessary vestige of printing photos on sheets of paper."
Spectacles can take 10-second clips and they are distinguished by the way they assume circular video format. This new technology purportedly creates footages taken from a perspective that resembles the human vision. This is achieved through the 115-degree angle lens, which Snap Inc. said is significantly wider than a smartphone camera's field of view. The result is something that is perfectly at home in Snapchat universe.
