Earbuds caught on and became “acceptable” simply because so many people were using devices that one’s life would be cacophonous if people didn’t wear them. It was the sheer number of mobile media players in use that did it, not power savings. Nothing to do with Physics at all.

If Google glasses offer some real advantages (doubtful at best) then they will be used although early adopters will be scorned and ridiculed. At some point, if there is enough people using them, they will seem “acceptable” all of a sudden and this will drive a second wave of adoption.

We are not close to there, and by the time we are, a more elegant solution may well present itself.

Google glasses is quite a niche product, suitable ONLY when you have your hands occupied with something else.
E.g. driving home in the traffic jam.
I doubt many people will adopt glasses as daily gadget to wear.
And here is why:

Glasses idea is invention of XIII century. And it’s construction, although drastically improved, still make them very uncomfortable to use.

In other words: using glasses is big trade-off between their benefits on one side and discomfort of using them on another.

1) You won’t wear them 100% your daily time.
2) It means, you have to store them somewhere = one more case you need to take and care of.
3) Glasses are quite less durable than solid piece of glass or plastic – they have earpieces.
4) Glasses never fit 100% to your face and nose = you always have to correct their position on your nose.

Using glasses as daily communication gadget is nightmare, because using glasses daily is nightmare.
Especially for those, who never tried it before.
I don’t think “augmented reality” will make glasses a replacement of smartphones for daily use.