Maybe I'm just old, but I still think wearing headphones conveys a detached air. My reaction isn't as strong as the 1981 interview, but it's there. Anyone else feel that way?
A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky
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Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky
#12I disagree that people will become comfortable with Google Glass - the primary negative reaction is the voyeuristic-rejection of having a camera always pointed at you (that may or may not be recording). To which the analogy vs. headphones is not relevant. I anticipate, however, that Google (or somebody) will find a way to make this product largely invisible to anybody but the wearer in the near term future. Through m…
> I disagree that people will become comfortable with Google Glass - the primary negative reaction is the voyeuristic-rejection of having a camera always pointed at you (that may or may not be recording).
A core assumption of this argument is that people won't eventually become accustomed to the idea of being recorded consistently, often without their knowledge or consent.
I can't see why that would be the case. Video surveillance is nigh-ubiquitous in London, and this appears to be both accepted and tolerated. Closer to home (US), I was probably recorded on camera 10-12 times today alone - anywhere from office buildings, retail stores, gas stations, etc. Moreover, I understand that I'm being monitored or recorded in some fashion during the majority of my waking hours (internet usage in the workplace, mobile apps with access to my current location, etc.)
Why do you feel people will forever resist this particular loss of privacy, when we already take some measure of persistent surveillance & recording as a given?
NB : This does not mean I feel comfortable speaking to someone wearing glass. It's unsettling. However, the very crux of the OP was that what we currently consider unsettling or strange is subject to change. I can't find a good reason to disagree with that conclusion.
Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky
#13I think this does a good job of speaking to one issue with Glass. "It looks dorky" will fade. There are negative reactions for other reasons, but conflating all negative attributes of Glass isn't a good analysis.
For those raising privacy concerns as an issue with this analysis - do you think the "that looks dorky" reaction is in fact significantly motivated by privacy concerns, or can you imagine a hip-and-chic styled product that is nonetheless equally (potentially) voyeuristic raising only some of the present objections?
Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky
#14Actually, I still find big headphones weird. I bought one myself so I started finding them okay, and there are a lot of people wearing them now that it doesn't look so silly anymore.
Makes me think about this as well:
"Annette Kellerman promoted women’s right to wear a one-piece bathing suit like this circa 1907… She was arrested for indecency"
Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky
#15I disagree that people will become comfortable with Google Glass - the primary negative reaction is the voyeuristic-rejection of having a camera always pointed at you (that may or may not be recording). To which the analogy vs. headphones is not relevant. I anticipate, however, that Google (or somebody) will find a way to make this product largely invisible to anybody but the wearer in the near term future. Through m…
And yet most people don't have that reaction to pervasive CCTV. Which, in some places, is virtually omnipresent and constantly recording. "Smile, you're on camera ☺"
And many people have no qualms sharing pretty much everything on Facebook and the like.
I don't know which way it will really go, but it is really not obvious a priori that everyone is that concerned about privacy, or that society will not adapt to make things like constant filming more acceptable.
Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky
#16I disagree that people will become comfortable with Google Glass - the primary negative reaction is the voyeuristic-rejection of having a camera always pointed at you (that may or may not be recording). To which the analogy vs. headphones is not relevant. I anticipate, however, that Google (or somebody) will find a way to make this product largely invisible to anybody but the wearer in the near term future. Through m…
I think that is a fair criticism of Google Glass. But I'm worried about my privacy in regards to governments, not fellow citizens. In fact, I think wearable computing like Google Glass could be a game changer in keeping governments accountable. It could be really convenient in recording what you believe to be police misconduct here in the States (instead of blatantly fumbling for your mobile). Or, provided it is affordable, it could be powerful tool to be handed out to people in the Sudan.
Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky
#17I disagree that people will become comfortable with Google Glass - the primary negative reaction is the voyeuristic-rejection of having a camera always pointed at you (that may or may not be recording). To which the analogy vs. headphones is not relevant. I anticipate, however, that Google (or somebody) will find a way to make this product largely invisible to anybody but the wearer in the near term future. Through m…
> I disagree that people will become comfortable with Google Glass - the primary negative reaction is the voyeuristic-rejection of having a camera always pointed at you (that may or may not be recording). A core assumption of this argument is that people won't eventually become accustomed to the idea of being recorded consistently, often without their knowledge or consent. I can't see why that would be the case. Vide…
London had the IRA.
Ubiquitous surveillance in london is more socially acceptable than the very real possibility of being exploded by a terrorist.
Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky
#18The story reports that the Walkman changed people's opinions about wearing headphones. (The kind of listening earpieces, even paired in a framework, used with the Walkman I usually think of as "earphones," but I see that the contemporary news story called them headphones, back in the day.) What I most remember about the Walkman is that it liberated public places from boomboxes, unaffectionately known as "ghetto blast…
In my view, one thing about any wearable device is that people form an impression of what you're doing with it. That's what makes it socially acceptable or not in the long run.
Earphones / buds / blueteeth don't have unlimited social acceptance. If you're talking to me while wearing headphones, I might ask you to take them off, especially if you're one of my kids. If I see you wearing them while while careening towards me on your bike, I might dive for cover. If I see someone wearing them while communing with nature, I might think they're weird.
If any prediction is possible, I'd guess that Google Glasses will also gain some sort of conditional social acceptance based on what they are capable of being used for.
Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky
#19I disagree that people will become comfortable with Google Glass - the primary negative reaction is the voyeuristic-rejection of having a camera always pointed at you (that may or may not be recording). To which the analogy vs. headphones is not relevant. I anticipate, however, that Google (or somebody) will find a way to make this product largely invisible to anybody but the wearer in the near term future. Through m…
How about how when people use their smart-phones and the lil camera points at whoever is opposite them? It always kinda weirds me out and I wonder if they're taking a picture. But I think people are more or less okay with it now and 99% of people don't notice and don't mind.
Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky
#20I can see the point don't know if Glass will make it however it used to be EXTREMELY weird to see people with bluetooth headsets and even more odd if people were talking on them in public places "Are you talking to me?" now it's so normal for the most part I don't even notice them.