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Google relaunches Glass for businesses

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Re: Google relaunches Glass for businesses

#261
post #115
post #9

This is so !@%!@ cool. Check out the A/B test of a technician with / without the software referenced in the article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5gXuZp25f0 Then here's a video that gives a sense of the software's interface: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5HOHNECW20 Very workflow oriented with nice communication and lookup features. This is the kind of small optimization stuff that is going to be revolutionary…

This is really cool, but when this technology trickles down to burger shops, I would be worried. http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

That sounds very efficient. I worked in fast food and it was always a frantic mess with high school kids trying to spit out custom orders while people pour through for a few hours at dinner.

Re: Google relaunches Glass for businesses

#262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha! I interviewed at google and told them glass was a horrible consumer product and that they should have started with a market that wouldn't mind looking stupid (or skiers who already wore goggles so they wouldn't look stupid at all). The point I made to them was that they engineered an incredible device but hadn't validated the market. I suggested it would have been better to start with something like skiers becaus…

Not sure why you got down-voted, everything you wrote is true.

Except for the parts where he claimed that his opinions were the reason for him failing the interview, or the fact that he failed the interview was indicative of some company culture.

Unless you believe that he's an omniscient psychic who somehow has insider knowledge of his hiring process.

Re: Google relaunches Glass for businesses

#263
post #27

It's easy to armchair quarterback this stuff after the fact, but this is where Glass should have started. The price point, social stigma/issues, and use cases all screamed "business applications!". Consumer tech may be where the glamour and scale are, but it's not always the best market entry point.

Ha! I interviewed at google and told them glass was a horrible consumer product and that they should have started with a market that wouldn't mind looking stupid (or skiers who already wore goggles so they wouldn't look stupid at all). The point I made to them was that they engineered an incredible device but hadn't validated the market. I suggested it would have been better to start with something like skiers becaus…

I can't say whether you failed the interview because of that but Google is a company that believes that their superior technology validates itself.

Sometimes it's the pressure "if you can't sell them in millions, we don't want to do it at Google". This means Google is a great company to make acquisitions that they can scale e.g docs, maps, YouTube, Android.

Google has so much money than they know what to do with it. They can't experiment like a startup because failed products hurt their brand.

Their best bet is to invest in startups that use their stack and if successful, acquire and scale the shit out of them.

Re: Google relaunches Glass for businesses

#264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likely because the platform he is on is not static, and is likely a standard part for multiple technicians, and possible with more than one on it at a time. It looks like the engine is stationary, and the station moves to where he is needed. If that's the case, they could use some semi-specialized platforms for different uses, some with tables for manuals and parts, some without to accommodate more people at once. Th…

Interesting thoughts, agree there's a lot of hidden complexity in optimizing work flows. Would love to see further discussion on this if you have any good sources.

Most of my experience comes from actually working closely with people to provide solutions for the in-house webapp I maintain for work. Many a time have I implemented what I thought was an definite enhancement only to find people weren't using it. After sitting down with people to find out exactly why, I would invariably learn a new facet of the problem that changed my understanding, and made the solution I implemented at best a trade of one problem for another problem of roughly equal or worse annoyance.

Rinse and repeat through a few different business areas in my career, and you can't help but learn a little humility and come to respect the power of truly understanding the problem space before embarking on a project of any magnitude. A powerful lesson, but unfortunately easy to forget.

That said, one of the replies to my comment (that subsequently deleted it) was a HN regular that said "Kaizen principles tell us that there are many optimisations that are known to the people doing the job, but not to the people who have the power to implement them." I wasn't familiar with the term, but I am familiar with what it refers to, and my bet is you'll find good information branches along that path.

Re: Google relaunches Glass for businesses

#265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you got down-voted, everything you wrote is true.

Except for the parts where he claimed that his opinions were the reason for him failing the interview, or the fact that he failed the interview was indicative of some company culture. Unless you believe that he's an omniscient psychic who somehow has insider knowledge of his hiring process.

Or maybe it was just said in jest. Not everything has to be so black and white.

Re: Google relaunches Glass for businesses

#266
post #27

It's easy to armchair quarterback this stuff after the fact, but this is where Glass should have started. The price point, social stigma/issues, and use cases all screamed "business applications!". Consumer tech may be where the glamour and scale are, but it's not always the best market entry point.

Ha! I interviewed at google and told them glass was a horrible consumer product and that they should have started with a market that wouldn't mind looking stupid (or skiers who already wore goggles so they wouldn't look stupid at all). The point I made to them was that they engineered an incredible device but hadn't validated the market. I suggested it would have been better to start with something like skiers becaus…

Xoogler here. You are very, very wrong if you think there is no dissent within Google. There's plenty.

That said, this is a company that has massively succeeded with other bets that were "absolutely predictable they would never work." So just because something looks questionable doesn't mean it gets shot down.

(Now, IMO, Glass was a mistake - but for entirely different reasons than you describe. An elite fashion product cuts against Google's reputation as something for everybody, even IF it had succeeded.)

Re: Google relaunches Glass for businesses

#268
post #8

>>Glass is also helping healthcare professionals. Doctors at Dignity Health have been using Glass with an application our partner Augmedix calls “a remote scribe”. My primary care doctor has a human scribe. The scribe is a recent graduate (BS), planning on going to med school next year. Being physically in the room, watching the doctor work is a great benefit to her. I'm not sure she'd benefit as much from watching a…

But the point here is to reduce the time doctors spend on mundane tasks.

Re: Google relaunches Glass for businesses

#269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a particular reason the manual and the tools have to be a flight of stairs away from the technician? I'd wager that the comparison would lose some steam if the tech could just turn his head to the right. And as far as the software goes, there's a lot more there on display than just Glass. For instance, there are at least two cameras in this screenshot that are just magically implied to exist - one taking hig…

Yea, also notice how in the Glass wearing video the technician brings up the tools he needs and sets them on the floor whereas in the other video he sets each tool back and forth. Pretty lame comparison.

Could it be that the glasses also tell you which tools you'll need, allowing you to plan ahead, whereas the alternative is to fetch a tool when you need it?

Re: Google relaunches Glass for businesses

#270
post #8

>>Glass is also helping healthcare professionals. Doctors at Dignity Health have been using Glass with an application our partner Augmedix calls “a remote scribe”. My primary care doctor has a human scribe. The scribe is a recent graduate (BS), planning on going to med school next year. Being physically in the room, watching the doctor work is a great benefit to her. I'm not sure she'd benefit as much from watching a…

> as a patient I wouldn't be comfortable being recorded.

Also sent to google, so then when you get home you get relevant ads for your medical issue. Yay!

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