We don’t usually think of ourselves as technologists in the vision industry, but we should.
When people talk about smart glasses, the conversation is dominated by technologists. Silicon Valley. Big Tech. Consumer electronics. But the irony is that we were some of the first technologists—what I like to call the accidental technologists.
When you think about today’s discussions around smart glasses, we act as if this is something entirely new. It’s not.
A lot of eye care providers and leaders across the eyewear industry don’t see ourselves as consumer technology companies in the way Apple, Meta or Google are framed. But if you take a step back, we absolutely are. In fact, we’ve been building consumer technology for over a millennium.
Glasses—reading lenses—date back at least to the 9th century. Since then, we’ve been refining hardware, materials, optics and manufacturing over centuries. This has always been technology. We just never described it that way.
And that’s the problem.
A Fundamental Reframing of Identity
We don’t think about ourselves as technologists, and because of that, we don’t position ourselves as such. What’s required now is a fundamental reframing of identity.
At the same time, we’re watching artificial intelligence generate both excitement and fear. Many eye care professionals are asking: Where do we belong in this future?
We still have jobs. We’ve dedicated our lives to helping people see—one of our most precious senses. The idea that this might be “taken over by technology” doesn’t bring comfort. But it also doesn’t have to mean displacement.
What it does mean is that the vision industry needs to lead.
This first part is about understanding where we are—and asking a critical question:
Are we at the table, or are we on the menu?
When I say “the vision industry,” I mean all of it:
- Retail lenses and frames
- Eye care providers
- Diagnostics and testing
- Surgical care
We tend to separate these domains, but in reality, we’re one ecosystem.
The Numbers Are Compelling
The vision care market is on track toward a half-trillion-dollar total addressable market over the next five to ten years.
So the question becomes: Why are companies with multi-trillion-dollar market caps so interested in our space?
The answer isn’t just opportunity—it’s history. And we can learn a lesson from when mobile technology was the “new platform.”
We’re all consumers. We remember life before smartphones. We saw how mobile technology reshaped behavior, commerce and culture. From how we accessed information or navigation to social media, mobile transformed all aspects of our lives.
And this is exactly why consumer tech companies are interested in vision.
Vision Is the Next Platform
Mark Zuckerberg said this directly in his letter to shareholders: he believes the next computing platform is glasses.
Glasses that see what you see.
Hear what you hear.
Integrate into daily life with less friction than phones.
When you step back, his vision for the future makes sense, and it is why multi-trillion-dollar market cap companies are leaning in.
BlackBerry
This brings us back to the lesson from the history of mobile technology.
At one point, BlackBerry dominated
- Roughly 20% of global handset market share,
- Around 30% operating system share, and was
- One of the most secure and widely used messaging platforms in the world
BlackBerry had hardware.
It had software.
It had applications.
And it dismissed the iPhone.
Fast forward 15 years. Apple and Android dominate the stack. Messaging lives on through WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram—applications inspired by BlackBerry Messenger.
And BlackBerry?
Research In Motion still exists, with a market cap under $3 billion.
Blackberry is a lesson in what happens when incumbents underestimate platform shifts. For each of the leaders in the eye care industry, positioning matters.
Which brings us back to the question:
Are we at the table — or on the menu?
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