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A future made of Glass

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Re: A future made of Glass

#51

Post by angersock »

nrivadeneira wrote: post #49
angersock wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here, let's go the other way (maybe they even go together!): Let's imagine a world where you sign up for discounts on certain goods in exchange for allowing your Glass to randomly take pictures throughout the day. This data is mined and tagged and sorted, until one day the .gov or .mil or some hacker decides to pull it and use it for nefarious purposes. The fact is that the nerd fantasy of getting a HUD (to track wha…

What a ridiculous slippery-slope assertion. The same argument could be said for the telephone - "Inevitably some company will offer discounts in exchange for random recordings of your phone calls. Everyone will sign up for that and then a hacker will take advantage of it." There are at least two reasons stuff like that doesn't occur: 1) The cost of recording, storing, parsing, and analyzing all that data far outweigh…

The telephone example is near exactly Google Voice, right? Massive voice database for the cost of some subsidized VoIP and storage?

"...cost of recording, storing, parsing, and analyzing all that data..."

You do realize that this is exactly the Google and Facebook business model, right? Targeted advertising using user-generated content?

"The number of people that might sign up for privacy invasion in the interest of a 2 for 1 Big Mac would be so insignificant"

Over a billion people have signed up for Facebook, giving up their own social graph data and (as we've seen recently) address books, and that's just for a free shitty profile page whose design changes on a whim. Add a burger to that, and you've got a deal.

There's no slippery-slope here--at this point, the dataset is large and obvious enough that if you aren't blinded by the magical nerd future you'll see very reasonable concerns over what might happen.

Re: A future made of Glass

#53

Post by nrivadeneira »

sveme wrote: post #42

There seem to be two major topics governing the front page of hackernews lately - the NSA leaks and Google Glass (though Glass was obviously much earlier). And reading through the comments about these two topics feels like being on two completely different web sites, with completely different audiences: a device tracking minute details of your life, that is sold by an advertising company, intended to use all the info…

I comment on Glass articles because I'm very excited about it. I don't comment on NSA articles because I personally don't find it to be an issue and I know I'll be burned at the stake and deemed an idiot for even considering having a differing view on privacy than the majority here.

In the first instance, I'm excited and can expect rational discussion. In the second, I'm more or less indifferent and certainly not masochistic.

Re: A future made of Glass

#54

Post by nrivadeneira »

angersock wrote: post #51
nrivadeneira wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a ridiculous slippery-slope assertion. The same argument could be said for the telephone - "Inevitably some company will offer discounts in exchange for random recordings of your phone calls. Everyone will sign up for that and then a hacker will take advantage of it." There are at least two reasons stuff like that doesn't occur: 1) The cost of recording, storing, parsing, and analyzing all that data far outweigh…

The telephone example is near exactly Google Voice, right? Massive voice database for the cost of some subsidized VoIP and storage? "...cost of recording, storing, parsing, and analyzing all that data..." You do realize that this is exactly the Google and Facebook business model, right? Targeted advertising using user-generated content? "The number of people that might sign up for privacy invasion in the interest of…

Do you have any evidence that Google Voice records phone calls without a user's explicit permission? I was never referring to voicemails (which are rarely used these days anyway).

I also don't see how you can make the argument that passive recording of everyone around you is the same as Facebook only receiving data that a user proactively sends it (ie. status updates, photo uploads, etc.).

Finally, even if we were to accept your slippery-slope arguments as true, why not go further down the slope and claim that the internet shouldn't exist either because massive data sets about your lives are already being mined and are at risk of nefarious use?

Re: A future made of Glass

#55

Post by aedocw »

"How many times have you been in a conversation, and picked up your phone to Google something you’re talking about. And after reading the result, you check your homescreen, and a few seconds later, you’re reading your tweets or your Facebook newsfeed, and no longer contributing to the conversation? Being able to ask Google anything and instantly get the answer without having to use your phone is magical."

This is a problem of focus and attention, not an interface problem. If you play with your phone when you're supposedly spending time with friends, glass is just going to make this significantly worse (because now you're looking towards me but still scrolling through your FB feed).

"And with Google Now, you know how bad the traffic is and how long your ride home is going to be without having to ask for it." I use a better solution today. Waze has routed me around traffic jams with amazing success, and it didn't cost me anything (since I already invested in my smartphone).

Everything I've read on glass so far seems to be taking some big leaps to justify the device. As others have said, it will lead us towards some interesting solutions eventually, but it is definitely not the best solution to ANYTHING.

Re: A future made of Glass

#56

Post by angersock »

nrivadeneira wrote: post #54
angersock wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The telephone example is near exactly Google Voice, right? Massive voice database for the cost of some subsidized VoIP and storage? "...cost of recording, storing, parsing, and analyzing all that data..." You do realize that this is exactly the Google and Facebook business model, right? Targeted advertising using user-generated content? "The number of people that might sign up for privacy invasion in the interest of…

Do you have any evidence that Google Voice records phone calls without a user's explicit permission? I was never referring to voicemails (which are rarely used these days anyway). I also don't see how you can make the argument that passive recording of everyone around you is the same as Facebook only receiving data that a user proactively sends it (ie. status updates, photo uploads, etc.). Finally, even if we were to…

Always, always with the absurd "hurr durr slippery slope what about this nonsensical extreme" stuff. If you cannot fathom the difference between the Internet as a loose federation of servers and services on an open protocol and network, and the sharecropping and fencing-in of modern walled gardens, I have nothing to say to you. If you can't figure out how the latter position is more easily abused than the former, I can't help you.

As for the voice stuff--look, given that much data, why wouldn't you mine it to improve things like transcription and whatnot?

(If a Googlebro wants to correct me on this, by all means go ahead.)

Re: A future made of Glass

#57

Post by r00fus »

sveme wrote: post #42

There seem to be two major topics governing the front page of hackernews lately - the NSA leaks and Google Glass (though Glass was obviously much earlier). And reading through the comments about these two topics feels like being on two completely different web sites, with completely different audiences: a device tracking minute details of your life, that is sold by an advertising company, intended to use all the info…

You're not the only one who's amazed by the overlap between Glass, the NSA leaks.

I'll add another datapoint: the new MS XB One is also another intelligence services wet dream, and is yet another fascinating but creepy product.

Why are all the new hot products giant spying devices? For my part I'd be much more thrilled with the concept of Glass if it did NOT have a camera. I want an assistant, not an overseer.

Re: A future made of Glass

#58

Post by r00fus »

pseudometa wrote: post #11

Nerd Alert. Google Glass is the calculator watch of the 90s. But instead of the a pallet of buttons on a writst, you now have a camera affixed to your face.

Can't wait till Slashdot wakes up and puts the borg icon on Sergey for Google stories instead of BillG for Microsoft stories.

Google has finally become what Microsoft wanted to be.

Re: A future made of Glass

#59

Post by nrivadeneira »

angersock wrote: post #56
nrivadeneira wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any evidence that Google Voice records phone calls without a user's explicit permission? I was never referring to voicemails (which are rarely used these days anyway). I also don't see how you can make the argument that passive recording of everyone around you is the same as Facebook only receiving data that a user proactively sends it (ie. status updates, photo uploads, etc.). Finally, even if we were to…

Always, always with the absurd "hurr durr slippery slope what about this nonsensical extreme" stuff. If you cannot fathom the difference between the Internet as a loose federation of servers and services on an open protocol and network, and the sharecropping and fencing-in of modern walled gardens, I have nothing to say to you. If you can't figure out how the latter position is more easily abused than the former, I c…

It's surprising you don't see the contradiction in saying that the open network of the internet is vastly different than our modern walled gardens, but then saying that our open real-world is comparable to the same walled gardens.

Also, I don't give much credibility to arguments that are based off an assertion like "I have no evidence, but...well, why wouldn't you?"

Re: A future made of Glass

#60

Post by embolism »

nrivadeneira wrote: post #59
angersock wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Always, always with the absurd "hurr durr slippery slope what about this nonsensical extreme" stuff. If you cannot fathom the difference between the Internet as a loose federation of servers and services on an open protocol and network, and the sharecropping and fencing-in of modern walled gardens, I have nothing to say to you. If you can't figure out how the latter position is more easily abused than the former, I c…

It's surprising you don't see the contradiction in saying that the open network of the internet is vastly different than our modern walled gardens, but then saying that our open real-world is comparable to the same walled gardens. Also, I don't give much credibility to arguments that are based off an assertion like "I have no evidence, but...well, why wouldn't you?"

His argument seems to be that users will willingly give up meaningful amounts of privacy and personal data in exchange for minor conveniences and discounts because they don't understand the value or deeper ramifications of doing so.

It seems bizarre that you would try to dismiss this.

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