Lightmancer
Legend
- Location
- Sunny Frimley
- Name
- Bill Palmer
So, what do we think of Google Glass from a photography point of view? There has been a lot of hype and interest around this, then it has all died down a bit. Now I am reading reports like this: Google Glass wearers stir up trouble at the bar with early adopters being referred to as "g l a s s h o l e s"... It is certainly compact (whether or not it is serious is another matter...) but I think that the debate veers more towards the impact upon society than the technology per se.
I work for a "high tech" company myself (not Google) and I know that we are already developing applications with Google Glass in mind, and rightly so. In industry, I can see a myriad uses, from police to service engineers, doctors to train drivers - but in everyday life? There is something vaguely creepy about talking to someone who may be listening - or who may be checking their email, or even last night's catch-up TV. At the moment, you can tell because the head is down revealing early-onset male-pattern baldness and the 'phone held discreetly in the lap is being prodded (at least one hopes it is the 'phone...) but with Google Glass, how will one know...?
The real concern for me, at least, is the likely backlash against Glass wearers by those who feel that their "privacy" (note the inverted commas) is being compromised. Will those who complain, followed as sure as eggs are eggs, by those who legislate - discriminate between wearable tech that uploads instantly to the Cloud and - potentially - records everything the user sees indiscriminately and the photographic equipment that brings us all here? Will we see the recent legislation introduced in Hungary becoming the norm? Will our pastime become - even more - a target for suspicion and discrimination - and all because of a pair of glassless glasses that make the wearer look like a member of the Borg Collective (styled by Ray Ban)? Perhaps the next generation Glass devices will include a blinking red light like an old video recorder - even more cyborg-chic.
Those who embrace Google Glass can't seem to see the problem - or the challenge. But then I suspect many are already asocial in their outlook and will focus (no pun intended) upon their own "needs" (wants) rather than on what others think, thereby making it worse - example the lady in the first article who turned ON the record function to "defuse" tension in the bar...
Thin end of the wedge, or nothing to worry about?
Discuss...
I work for a "high tech" company myself (not Google) and I know that we are already developing applications with Google Glass in mind, and rightly so. In industry, I can see a myriad uses, from police to service engineers, doctors to train drivers - but in everyday life? There is something vaguely creepy about talking to someone who may be listening - or who may be checking their email, or even last night's catch-up TV. At the moment, you can tell because the head is down revealing early-onset male-pattern baldness and the 'phone held discreetly in the lap is being prodded (at least one hopes it is the 'phone...) but with Google Glass, how will one know...?
The real concern for me, at least, is the likely backlash against Glass wearers by those who feel that their "privacy" (note the inverted commas) is being compromised. Will those who complain, followed as sure as eggs are eggs, by those who legislate - discriminate between wearable tech that uploads instantly to the Cloud and - potentially - records everything the user sees indiscriminately and the photographic equipment that brings us all here? Will we see the recent legislation introduced in Hungary becoming the norm? Will our pastime become - even more - a target for suspicion and discrimination - and all because of a pair of glassless glasses that make the wearer look like a member of the Borg Collective (styled by Ray Ban)? Perhaps the next generation Glass devices will include a blinking red light like an old video recorder - even more cyborg-chic.
Those who embrace Google Glass can't seem to see the problem - or the challenge. But then I suspect many are already asocial in their outlook and will focus (no pun intended) upon their own "needs" (wants) rather than on what others think, thereby making it worse - example the lady in the first article who turned ON the record function to "defuse" tension in the bar...
Thin end of the wedge, or nothing to worry about?
Discuss...