Network carriers in particular are scrambling to compete with the new wave of mobile upstarts that have turned Silicon Valley into Smartphone Valley in less than 3 years.

FORBES: mHealth: The Next Frontier For Mobile Service Growth

But Google co-founder Sergey Brin's presentation at TED, in which he characterized wearing Google Glass as somehow more macho than pulling your smartphone out of your pocket, underscores the tone-deafness that can envelop Silicon Valley when VIPs get a little too excited about the Next Big Thing.

CNN: Will these guys make Google Glass uncool?