MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ca. – For nearly thirty years, we’ve lived with our faces glued to small screens—thumbs incessantly swiping, notifications pinging at all hours. But according to Mark Zuckerberg, that era may soon be in the rear-view mirror.
In a recent interview, the Meta CEO predicted that wearable computing will eclipse smartphones as our primary portal to the digital world. “People want computing to be more natural and social,” he explained, “so you can interact with the people around you—this will likely be the next major platform after phones.”
Author Brian Foster said he was skeptical at first. Last Christmas, I gifted my partner a sleek new handset—only to watch her tuck it into her bag for the entire family walk. There’s no denying we crave convenience, but could we really trade our devices for something we wear over our eyes?
Smart glasses: Are They The Future Of tech?
The idea of strapping a pair of high-tech spectacles to your face once belonged in sci-fi novels. Yet huge investments by Meta and Apple—whose Vision Pro received rapturous initial reviews—suggest this is more than a passing fad. These next-gen glasses promise augmented reality (AR) overlays, real-time data streams and hands-free navigation, effectively turning your surroundings into an immersive interface.
Zuckerberg is so confident that he forecasts a full smartphone phase-out by the 2030s. He imagines a day when your phone spends more time tucked away in your pocket than lighting up your palm.
Early adopters are already experimenting with prototypes. In San Francisco cafés, professionals dictate messages through voice commands on their frames, and travellers use built-in maps to navigate busy terminals without glancing down at a screen. As these devices slim down and battery lives improve, the line between gadget and accessory will blur even further.
Whether you’re ready to embrace your new set of specs or simply curious about what’s next, one thing’s clear: the smartphone’s days as our go-to gadget may be numbered. And as Zuckerberg says, “The real magic happens when technology fades into the background—let the world become your screen.”
