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Google Glass

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421–430 of 591 posts

Re: Google Glass

#421

I am seriously concerned about this. I was in a long-distance relationship this summer. We would take turns visiting each other in our respective cities roughly 5 hours apart. It was a pretty long journey for a weekend - it would sometimes take 10 hours one way since you had to go through New York. Of course, it was worth it. But whenever we would go on a walk, or I'd take her out to dinner, I got as much face time w…

There's really something fundamentally different about these new trends, and I think it's important to try to put a finger on it, rather than blame technology generally. Part of the smartphone/Facebook/Instragram addiction is cheap escapism, filling the same role as TV does to many. But it's also the social addiction - the need to know what other people are doing, and "be part of it", and the narcissistic look-at-me.

I see Glass as especially concerning given Google's marketing, which is clearly intended to feed into these social (and other) addictions. The New York Times just published an extraordinary article[1] about the way the US food industry knowingly manipulated consumers into eating extremely unhealthy foods which were engineered by our finest minds, using advanced mathematical models, to perfectly induce and maintain craving. They were explicitly compared to Big Tobacco, as being complicit in the damage they have caused.

I look at the parallels in the way the tech industry is using modern pysch/neuro research and explicitly engineering products designed to manipulate humans' social monkey-brains into craving more-more-more, getting dopamine hits every time someone clicks "like". This is not the sort of future we want to build.

[1]: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary...

Re: Google Glass

#422
post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what is "real" life? I just bought a coffee, but didn't make it myself, a machine did. is it real?

Yeah. You drank it, right? You weren't watching a character drink a machine-made coffee on a screen.

All your inputs are via wires. Some of them are short wires, and made of meat. But you have no direct senses.

Re: Google Glass

#424

Ok, if these images are real, I'm very impressed. But I'm concerned that they're mockups. It is very, very dangerous to make people think you can do more than you actually can. The "directions" demo image features full color, right in the middle of your field of view, with a display resolution that allows super light weight fonts and subtle glow effects. Is anyone able to comment on whether this is a realistic portra…

The technology part is easy. Google Now already does all of this basically.

Re: Google Glass

#426
post #16
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're paying $1500 to beta test a product You say that as if this is a USB dongle. This is sci-fi stuff. Who cares if it's beta?

No to throw cold water here but Is it really? It seems to be rather trivial integration of currently known and available technologies with bit of miniaturization efforts. Nothing that 5 year old iPhone can't do with albeit more convenience. Space elevators, 100% artificial life form, fusion reactor of the size AA batteries - now that, my friend, would be sci-fi stuff.

>Nothing that 5 year old iPhone can't do with albeit more convenience.

Lol. Google Now (the tech powering Glass, effectively) still does stuff that current iPhones don't do.

Re: Google Glass

#427
post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Phew, good thing you have a shit Nokia. Otherwise society would probably come to a grinding halt.

You are correct. It probably would, from my perspective. I actually talk to people, properly, deeply. My memes are not limited to 140 characters...

It must be a shame to have such little will power.

Re: Google Glass

#428
post #393

Here's one quirky thing though, there are moments in life where everyone around you wants to take a picture. Like, a celebrity walks by. Or you are at the top of a long climb. Or you're at the zoo. Are people in these situations going to be just a sea of voices saying in round "OK Glass take a picture, OK Glass take a picture"?

That's what I don't like about voice control. I'm too shy/reserved to do that kind of thing in public.

Re: Google Glass

#429
post #25
post #6

You're paying $1500 to beta test a product. What's not clear is whether you get the final product when ready.

Considering the bugs in Windows 8, and how Microsoft is already preparing a service pack for this year (Blue version), does that make Surface Pro a $1,000 product, too? You're basically beta testing any brand new product. Always.

>Microsoft is already preparing a service pack for this year (Blue version)

It's amusing to hear this parroted across the Internet.

Re: Google Glass

#430
post #393

Here's one quirky thing though, there are moments in life where everyone around you wants to take a picture. Like, a celebrity walks by. Or you are at the top of a long climb. Or you're at the zoo. Are people in these situations going to be just a sea of voices saying in round "OK Glass take a picture, OK Glass take a picture"?

you would hope people would be able to use this with a certain amount of tact. Also, a simple button on the side of the glasses could be used for silent photos, or some other function perhaps.
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