I think if someone can succeed at putting similar technology in normal looking glasses it will have a much better chance of success, otherwise I agree.
People who prioritize utility over fashion are prime candidates though. Even nerds who claim to be all about utility are typically more fashion conscious than they want to admit, but when you are on the job being all about utility stops being a fashion faux pas. Utility belts are perfectly acceptable for people to wear when they are working, but you never see them otherwise (well, maybe the odd cellphone belt-clip..). I think that people who wear utility belts for work are a great target audience for this sort of thing.
I think they should focus on industrial use. That has the potential to be a stable market for them that they can use for widespread testing of hardware and applications. Use police to keep the ball rolling until they figure out a way to get the general public on board.
I wonder if a classic-style cameraless HUD could alleviate some of the social issues while still retaining enough of the functionality. I mean it'd still take a certain kind of person to wear it, but people who wouldn't wear it who are actively angry at / frightened of Google Glass, rather than merely indifferent to it, seem to be so mostly because of the possibility that the person wearing it could be recording them at any time, without outwardly visible signs (while recording someone by holding up your smartphone is typically pretty obvious). The HUD itself doesn't seem to particularly anger people.
On the other hand, if some devices come with cameras and others don't, people with the no-recording versions might still suffer the same stigma, if the average person can't tell at a glance which is which.
Truthfully, my willpower isn't that great. I might be one of them if I had Google Glass.
It was sort of an uncanny-valley thing where we were having a face-to-face conversation, but I was not quite sure which of the normal face-to-face cues applied. I don't at all mind different kinds of conversations, but to me an IM or IRC chat feel much more comfortable, because you just switch to a completely different interaction mode. Not necessarily less nuanced if it's people who are "fluent" at chat, but different, so it doesn't feel uncanny in the same way. Might be something I'd get used to with more experience, though.
I also don't think it's a bad thing, mind you. We're heading into an age of mass surveillance whether we like it or not. If we're going there we may as well go there with defensive, personally controllable (even if not secure), devices to go with it. Who watches the watchers and all that.
Edit: as long as it has vim bindings. :)