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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

#131

Post by gcb0 »

coldtea wrote: post #107
d23 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember thinking how stupid the iPad was when it came out. It's just an iPhone with a magnifying glass attached, after all. Then I got one as a gift, and the appeal became immediate. There's something about the need to criticize that seems inherent to humanity -- or at least the HN comments section.

> I remember thinking how stupid the iPad was when it came out. It's just an iPhone with a magnifying glass attached, after all. No, it's an iPhone with a much bigger screen real estate. Which changes all kinds of things, user experience and UI design wise. Things that are awkward on small screen are easily done on a larger screen. If it was just a magnified iPhone it would be stupid. Now, what's really bad is how ma…

nah. the phone is actually easier to hold/use.

the ONLY reason i use the tablets more is battery life. Given equivalent processing power/battery life, nobody would choose a tablet. the screen real state simply does not compensate for the lack of public use, uncomfortable long session use, etc.

give me a phone with decent battery life, and i won't even mind the occasional magnifying glass attached to it.

Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky

#132

Post by blazespin »

Google glass will become acceptable because it will be miniaturized and mostly invisible, not because the currently obscene format will become 'a Walkman for your eyes'.

Until then the only socially acceptable way to use them will be in work situations, such as first responders and military.

Note, I currently own a google glass (amongst other wearable tech) and develop for it.

Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky

#133

Post by 72deluxe »

d23 wrote: post #69
resu_nimda wrote: post #44

I am actually pretty shocked at the responses here on HN, of all places. Not because, as technologists we should all automatically love any new technology, but because, as technologists we should have perspective on its inexorable march. How many times have we laughed at definitive statements, pontificating on this or that newfangled thing, that were proven to be wildly off-the-mark only a few years later? How many t…

I remember thinking how stupid the iPad was when it came out. It's just an iPhone with a magnifying glass attached, after all. Then I got one as a gift, and the appeal became immediate. There's something about the need to criticize that seems inherent to humanity -- or at least the HN comments section.

I was only thinking about this yesterday evening. My wife used to spit feathers and froth at the mouth when I mentioned Apple devices, and thought that the iPad was stupid. She also thought that the iPhone made a rubbish business phone, particularly in comparison to the Blackberry and Nokia (no ability to sync contacts properly at the time etc.)

BUT! now she has an iPad. She has had it for about a year and she loves it. She spends all evening shopping/browsing. I too have a tablet and struggled to think of how I would use one before I bought it, but now I read more than ever, and browse.

Very interesting how life-changing (or more like habit-changing) tablets have been, particularly the ease of use to look something up and read without having to turn a computer on. (I still use my laptop if I want to CREATE anything, but consuming is mostly done on a tablet, as attempting to create something on a tablet is an exercise in frustration). Perhaps Apple cleverly realised that most people consume instead of create.

Very clever. We would not have thought this 5 years ago.

Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky

#134

Post by 72deluxe »

kibibu wrote: post #91
hangonhn wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. I refuse to talk to anyone with one of those on. It's not only creepy but also really unfair. It also throws the whole concern of private conversations out the door. Get rid of the camera but keep the glass. Maybe then we will be more comfortable.

Pull out your smartphone and record them through it while talking

Haha I think I'll do that if I ever meet someone. That's really funny, it'll keep me chuckling all day. Thanks!

Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky

#135

Post by blazespin »

eevilspock wrote: post #115
wpietri wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might I suggest putting money down? http://longbets.org/ I built the site ten years ago, and the Long Now Foundation has plenty of other things going on, so I'm pretty confident that this will do for your 10-year bet. If you find a challenger, I'm glad to help you two negotiate a testable prediction and get the bet up on the site.

Wow. I've had for many years an idea I've called GoodBets to get people who argue on the web to put their money where their mouth is, with the money going to the winner's choice of charity, just as you have with Long Bets. GoodBets would integrate with comment systems, such as this one on HN, so if someone makes some unequivocal statement you think is baloney, you can challenge them with a GoodBet in your reply. They…

Everyone has had that idea. :). Problem is that it doesn't really improve discourse, it just turns trolls into zealots who spend all their time arguing about the exact interpretation of the bet itself.

Note, I am a 7 year user of Intrade(which is undergoing a reboot) with over 100k USD total traded.

Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky

#136

Post by coldtea »

gcb0 wrote: post #131
coldtea wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I remember thinking how stupid the iPad was when it came out. It's just an iPhone with a magnifying glass attached, after all. No, it's an iPhone with a much bigger screen real estate. Which changes all kinds of things, user experience and UI design wise. Things that are awkward on small screen are easily done on a larger screen. If it was just a magnified iPhone it would be stupid. Now, what's really bad is how ma…

nah. the phone is actually easier to hold/use. the ONLY reason i use the tablets more is battery life. Given equivalent processing power/battery life, nobody would choose a tablet. the screen real state simply does not compensate for the lack of public use, uncomfortable long session use, etc. give me a phone with decent battery life, and i won't even mind the occasional magnifying glass attached to it.

>nah. the phone is actually easier to hold/use.

That's just like, err, your outlier opinion man.

Now, the phone might be easier to hold with one hand, but the iPad is easier/better for lots of tasks. From reading books and comics or watching videos to using music creation apps, drawing apps etc. Anything where screen real estate matters.

>the ONLY reason i use the tablets more is battery life. Given equivalent processing power/battery life, nobody would choose a tablet.

Wrong again. Not to mention that millions of people by Wi-Fi only iPads, and when using an iPhone in that way (with the 3G/4G turned off), you get pretty much the same battery life. Or you know, those people could get an extra battery juice pack for their iPhone, but they don't.

Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky

#137

Post by icebraining »

User8712 wrote: post #113
r0s wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glass and bluetooth have the same problem, they are peripheral, accessory devices. That's what makes them uncool, they're unnecessary. Maybe someday glass will cut the rope of being paired with a phone, but not anytime soon.

It also seems rude to be wearing a headset while socializing. People take their headphones out of their ears. If you have a bluetooth headset, I feel like I'm not getting your full attention. Even if you're not on a call, I still feel like I come second. It would be the same with Glass. If I'm talking to someone and they're wearing Glass, it seems rude. If they glance to the screen, even more so. Then, it's unnecessa…

The conversation seems easily solved: you just need to be able to raise the Glass screen/camera, like you would with sunglasses.

Seems like an easy design fix.

Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky

#138

Post by bowlofpetunias »

resu_nimda wrote: post #44

I am actually pretty shocked at the responses here on HN, of all places. Not because, as technologists we should all automatically love any new technology, but because, as technologists we should have perspective on its inexorable march. How many times have we laughed at definitive statements, pontificating on this or that newfangled thing, that were proven to be wildly off-the-mark only a few years later? How many t…

> privacy is going away

The argument that fundamental civil rights will simply disappear in the face of "technological progress" seems utterly vapid to me. In fact, it sounds like a fundamentalist ideology. This argument is a thin is "we have nukes, so let's blow up stuff".

This is not technology that will make certain jobs or products obsolete. This is not technology that will simply change the way we do things. This is not technology that merely affects our social interactions.

This is technology that robs people of fundamental freedoms, freedoms that we've not only had since home sapiens first appeared, but freedoms which we have explicitly protected through laws and constitutions as technological progress has made it easier to take away that freedom.

A society where everyone can be recorded on video 24/7 without restrictions is not a free society.

If this is truly the "inexorable march of technology", I might consider becoming a Luddite after all.

The technology of Google Glass is technological progress, just like printing a gun with a 3D printer is technological progress. I don't think that automatically means that in 10 years time we'll be walking around shooting at everything that moves with either.

Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky

#139

Post by Raphael »

stormbrew wrote: post #124
coldtea wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your ability to predict what amount to fashion trends in the future is not particularly related to your ability to do so in the past. I don't know, your ability to predict trends in the past sounds like the best predictor of your future ability. Except if you think that there's no such an abilily, and it's all random guesses and luck.

It is the best predictor, obviously, but I'm saying that doesn't really mean much. Fashion is fickle. And the thing is, above and beyond that, 10 years from now the tech that's evolved from Glass will look about as much like Glass as the iphone looks like my first touchscreen phone (behold: http://img.engadget.com/common/images/3060000000053553.JPG?0... )

Bingo. The first consumer computer glasses may not be a mass hit. But persistence, innovation, tweaking, and competition will sooner or later hit on a design that sells.

Re: A 33-Year-Old NPR Story Convinced Me Google Glass Will Stop Looking So Dorky

#140

Post by pjc50 »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #121

I don't think the Walkman is a good comparison at all. Instead, look at the boom box. Big headphones today, or the Walkman in the 80s didn't invade someone else's space. They allow a person to withdraw. Boom boxes, and Google Glass, on the other hand, are explicitly outwardly focused. They force your presence upon others.

Good insight; imposing yourself on others is never going to be very popular.

The modern equivalent of the boom box is people playing music loudly on their phone speaker on public transport.

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