Modern innovations have improved this technology. The bifocals, invented by Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century was a major improvement to the science. Today we have special plastics and coatings to further improve the optics of glasses and frame design has become so fashionable as to lead certain celebrities to wear them regardless of their vision. Glasses are an elegant solution to the problem of vision correction. They offer a safe, established therapy of correction, with simple design, maintenance and use.
Glasses do have their drawbacks however.
Often, peripheral vision is sacrificed. Sometimes it's inconvenient to wear glasses and they can always be lost or broken. Some people find the nosepiece, temples or weight of the glasses themeselves distracting and irritating. Compared to eyeglasses, contact lenses are a fledgling science. Nevertheless, contact lenses have become common and convenient for many people.