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Google's wearable Glass gadget: cool or creepy?

20 Comments

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I'm sure that people will quickly find that establishments, gatherings, and the resultant social pressure will convince people wearing these things anywhere is not such a good idea. Especially when the lawsuits start flying of people being filmed without their knowledge.

3 ( +3 / -1 )

Schmidt acknowledged that there are certain places where Glass will not be appropriate but that he believed new rules of social etiquette will coalesce over time.

Right, 'cause we've all sorted out good manners concerning cell phones, haven't we?

Firstenberg said it will take time for all sides to get comfortable with the new technology.

Developers of new technology don't care if everyone is comfortable with it or not. If enough people like it, too bad if a lot of other people don't. Change just gets shoved down our throats faster and faster without much thought about the possible consequences of that change. We're called fuddy-duddies and "afraid of change." But what's wrong with being just a little thoughtful and cautious about change?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Interezxting technology when will they come out with a version for people that already wear glasses?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Without a picture it is REALLY HARD to tell.

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Don't understand the fears regarding covert video recording. You'd have to stare fixedly at your intended victim like a lunatic. They'd certainly notice you weren't behaving normally.

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I'll have to admit it could come in very useful when driving - especially here in Japan where one may need proof that the "pedestrian jumped out in front of his/her car..." or "the bicycle rider went right through the red light which caused the accident" etc...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Neither. It's useless. Nobody wants to wear something on their face all day if they can help it.

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FightingViking: I'm pretty sure there are more accidents caused in this country because of people using their cellphones when driving than pedestrians/cyclists not following the rules of the road (although I don't deny that this is also an issue). I think a better solution to covering your ass in a situation like that would be to install dash cams like all of the cars in Russia have on them.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

... so I can stick my iphone in my pocket with the video recorder on and no warning for anyone that I'm recording... but I can't wear google glasses which have a little red light to warn that I'm recording?

Frankly this is just tech-paranoia at its best. Oh, and as for driving, I have a dash-board cam already that records the road ahead of me in case of an accident (its my insurance against false claims by the other driver or in case a pedestrian or cyclist does something insanely stupid and then tries to blame me), so fears about recording traffic are overblown, a lot of people are already doing it.

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Welcome to the future. . The current versions are big and easy to spot but it will be just a few short years until they are undetectable, at least by the naked eye.

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Why would any sane person want to walk around with a mini-computer stuck to their face all day? Privacy issues aside, it just seems like a pretty daft device. Next they'll be developing a plug-in device that connects directly with your brain so you can access You Tube and Twitter that way.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Why would any sane person want to walk around with a mini-computer stuck to their face all day?

I think if you'd been born 100 years ago you might be saying the same thing about the wrist watch.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

At least with this technology you could have some control over where is appropriate for wearing these devices. I'm pretty sure the movie industry will lead the way in having them banned outright from cinemas, and other establishments will automatically follow suit. There is a fair bit of a media beat-up about Google Glass, but some of it is fair- like facial recognition technology which borders on scary considering its potential use for stalking and possibly picking people out of a crowd. That said, a major supermarket chain in Australia recently ran into trouble over the sale of video recording pens; and video recording watches can easily be bought online. Iffy websites that owe their existence to voyeur material are going to be even bigger winners.

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Creepy

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IT IS CREEPY !! Just THINK about it, a PERSON wearing this GLASS can take ur PICTURES, VIDEO, upload it in the INTERNET, just with the BLINK of his EYES !! thats CREEPY !! and im sure this will bring up the CRIME level... G GLASS should be BANNED !!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Creepy. As if it isn't enough that a huge percentage of the populations stumble along glued to their handheld devices.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

A friend of mine in San Jose found himself a bit creeped out when sharing a bank of urinals with a guy wearing Google Glass. Urinal time is tense enough as it is, with multiple tacit rules dudes have worked out over decades. Perhaps the same setting of etiquette will eventually occur with Google Glass.

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To expand on Laguna's point, just imagine being "on-air" with your own glasses on and going for a wee wee. I mean, you have to look down at SOME point. Yuk! No "ii ne" here.

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Google itself is already creepy! No need to ask if any Google gadgets are creepy! They are automatically creepy.

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when will they come out with a version for people that already wear glasses?

Early reviews suggest that you can either replace the lenses or remove the computer part of it and mount it on existing frames.

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