I was really tempted to splurge for pre-order pricing on the Recon Jet, this wearable HUD for cyclists. The idea of being able to see your speed, distance, heartrate, and so on while running or cycling without having to look away from the road is so enticing.

But I had previously purchased something similar, the Oakley Airwave snowboard goggles, and those were such a disappointment, that I'm going to wait until actual users have beta tested this product. The UI was awful, the setup was painful, and in the sun I couldn't see anything in the HUD while snowboarding down the mountain. All these HUD's that require you to focus on a tiny point to the bottom right of your visual field as the digital data comes through a tiny display wedged in at the bottom right of the right lens.

But when we imagine these futuristic displays we always picture data actually being overlayed on top of the glass that we're looking at or through. Some might argue that overlaying data on your glasses is dangerous, but I find shifting the focus of your eyes from the real world to a tiny point at the bottom right of your right eye while in motion (on a snowboard, on your bike) is much more dangerous. At least when you look through your glasses your peripheral vision can still come into play.

Well, a lot of people seem to have ordered the Recon Jet as it sold out of its pre-orders despite a high price so we'll likely have real-world reviews in the near future. I hope it's great, but I suspect it won't be.