After Explorer programs and limited betas and complete accidents, Google Glass is now for sale to anyone who with $1,500 to spend and desire to have all the features of a basic smartphone conveniently, but also some what distractingly, attached to their head.

According to Google's Glass team, the next phase of the rollout will be available "as long as we have it on hand." The idea is to get more prisms onto more faces (or possibly unload some remaining units) while continuing to improve the device's experience: "we can’t wait," reads a note on the Glass Google+ page, "to hear all your experiences and feedback to continue to make Glass even better, ahead of our wider consumer release."

For a peek into that wide-release future, we turn to online journal The Baffler's piece on the possibilities of Glass in the workplace:

When Google Glass receives a wide release, the price will drop significantly, as will the prestige associated with owning the device. And once that happens, it will finally become obvious who really has the power.

The luster (and maybe some of the hate directed at Glass) will start to wear off once everyone is conditioned to seeing people walk around looking like they're distracted by billboard only they can see. Best case scenario: no one will ever have to feel emasculated for looking at their phone screen again. Worst case scenario: every office becomes a creepy panopticon.

[WSJ]
[TheBaffler]
[Google+]