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Is Google Glass Too Nerdy For the Mainstream?
New submitter some old guy writes "Marcus Wohlsen writing in Wired Business makes a good case for why no amount of marketing hype will cure Google Glass of its inherent dorkiness. 'Google Glass fails to acknowledge that walking around with a camera mounted on the side of your face at all times makes you look dorky. Think of the Bluetooth headset: it’s a really sensible way to use your phone without having to take it out of your pocket—so sensible that there’s really no reason not to keep that headset in your ear most of the time. But you don’t, do you?' He also makes an interesting comparison to the Segway debacle: 'If we were all riding around on Segways now, cities would probably be better places to live compared to the car-infested streets we still endure. But that transformation hasn't happened. And it won’t. Why? Because Segways are lame. They’re too rational. They fail to acknowledge all the irrational reasons people love their cars.'"
Yes
Betteridge's law of headlines is way off on this one.
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
Marcus Wohlsen writing in Wired Business makes a good case for why no amount of marketing hype will cure Google Glass of its inherent dorkiness.
And walking around glued to your Smart Phone doesn't? Remember when hands-free Blue Tooth ear thingies came out? Tell me that's not dorky, walking around talking to yourself...
Yes, today it is. But being tied to your mobile device (even *having* a mobile device) use to be very nerdy. In time it will be "nerdy" *not* to have a some type of Intertube connected HUD on your eyeball. Eventually there will be implants and the data will be âoeprojectedâ directly into your brain.
Besides, we all know that "nerds" actually set the tech style trends. There will be a critical mass point, and weâ(TM)ll start seeing these things for sale at the Big Box stores.
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I think society would be a better place if people were less worried about "dorkiness" and more worried about being practical.
Another example is fanny packs. They're incredibly convenient for carrying random crap around, but because society has deemed them "dorky", nobody wants to wear them.
Heck, men can't even carry a small bag around with them because it will be deemed a "purse".
Why are we so caught up, as a society, on such idiotic things? We should just do what is convenient and works and not make fun of each other over it.
In the 1990s you looked pretty dorky pulling a PalmPilot out of your pocket to browse the internet on, but it seems reasonably widely accepted nowadays. I mean, it still looks dorky, but it's mainstream anyway. Is an eyepiece one step too far to make that transition? Maybe, but I wouldn't have predicted the ubiquitous public use of smartphones, either (I would imagine people would have them, but not that they'd be willing to walk down the street typing on them).
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
The problem is, nobody wants to wear glasses, even people who need them for vision correction. That's why contacts were invented, and laser vision correction. So why, oh why, would we ditch glasses, only to wear different glasses.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
OK, this article is by a person who does not understand the value of hearing things as they exist in the real world.
Next story.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
If we were all riding around on Segways now, cities would probably be better places to live but our daily commutes would take two to five times longer. We won't even talk about having Segways all over the icy and heavy snowed streets in the winter.
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The assumption is people will wear them 24/7 for some reason (or as long as the battery will last)
Why do we assume the proper use case isn't to use them as bluetooth headsets were meant to be: when you needed it (ignore the idiots that wear them to dinner)
In a medical setting, IMO it is a fantastic form factor. For the kid building sand castles, not so much. I see it as more of a device to enhance a particular activity you do that necessitates them, not as a device you sport all the time.
But then again, what is normal about walking down a street staring at your mobile phone composing a text message and not paying attention to your surroundings?
Because Segways are lame. They’re too rational. They fail to acknowledge all the irrational reasons people love their cars.
Yes, irrational reasons like ... rain. Or passengers. Or payload. Or personal security. Or range. Or speed.
Google Glass fails to acknowledge that walking around with a camera mounted on the side of your face at all times makes you look dorky.
Look, there are armies of douche-Borgs walking around with bluetooth earpieces in, thinking not that they fall enough below some painful threshold of dorkiness while wearing them, but rather that they look cool doing so. These are the spinning hubcaps of phone accessories.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
How did this get modded up? It's been made in in each of the billion previous glass threads that they have versions that can be fitted with prescription lenses.
Who needs to see the real world when you can see what Google wants you to see?
...I could see them taking off. But man, even on gorgeous models they look dorky. Great idea - I'm a fan of the "dataglasses" or augmented reality concept (Virtual Light anyone?) but this, it cries out for a good designer.
The segway rant in the summary is ridiculous. Segways never caught on because they fail as a replacement for cars. People still need to get their groceries home and their kids to soccer practice, and they would still revert back to using their car when it rains. That fact alone makes Segways an addition as opposed to a replacement for cars, and Segways are way too expensive to be an additional cost. Secondly, if a large portion of a population started using Segways, there would still be a large portion that also used cars, so we couldn't just rebrand the streets for Segway use. A few Segways on the sidewalk is a novelty. Hundreds at one time would be silly. Whatever the "irrational reasons people love their cars," there are still a great deal of rational reasons why people love their cars, so the "irrational" argument is moo. Of course most of the large trucks and suvs on the streets are unnecessary, but those would be replaced by smaller cars, not moving platforms that people have to stand on for miles at a time. Maybe Google Glass will catch on and maybe it won't but that has nothing to do with the failure of the Segway to actually solve the problem it wanted to solve.
Three days from now?? Thats tomorrow!! ~Peter Griffin
>" 'Google Glass fails to acknowledge that walking around with a camera mounted on the side of your face at all times makes you look dorky."
It isn't just dorky, it is rude, creepy, and invasive too. The author and Google (especially the CEO) seems to just completely skirt the entire issue of privacy- not only for the user, but all the hundreds of "victims" around the user, every day. Take out your phone and hold it up in the air, pointed at everyone you pass, meet, talk to, sit next to, and see what kind of reaction you get.
So stop pretending it is just about fashion, it is really insulting.
Segways might work for LA, but what about Seattle? How do you carry a kayak with a segway? How do you transport small furniture with a segway? How do you park with your best gal up on lovers'-leap with a segway? How do you seamlessly transition from one topic to another? With a segue.
On what planet exactly?
They are slow scooters that require the entire world to adjust to them so those with more money than sense could walk less.
They take up more room than a walking human, have zero cargo capacity AND can't do stairs.
But most importantly they represent an overpriced way of doing something most people can do by just walking - moving slowly in a straight line.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
A product doesn't have to be used by 1 billion people to be successfull. Not everyone carries around pepper spray but it is still a big industry. Even if Google Glass is only used by security guards, police officers, dectectives, tabloid jurnalists, and debt collectors is will be a success. It just needs to be usefull to a fraction of the population to make a ton of money.
Actually we should ask the reverse question: why would people who never wear glasses buy those things? Everyone would have glasses, even those who don't need prescription lenses? I don't think so.
It seems like it might be fun? I dunno. I can't see wearing one to work, it would be a waste of time and would hardly complement a professional image(oh god when did I become an adult), but when I'm playing an RPG with friends, why wouldn't I want to keep my character sheet/DM notes on a tiny corner of my vision? When I'm going on a bike ride with my girlfriend, why wouldn't I want to be able to record it?
I don't think I'll buy the "all the time" type usage google suggests, but toys can be fun.
The inherent non-acceptability of Google Glass was somewhat predicted by Snow Crash over 20 years ago. One of the characters, a "gargoyle" walks around in full-recording mode at all times, trying to capture every bit of information possible. The description, as given, is at best neutral and my takeaway was that it wasn't considered a positive thing by other information gatherers of that world.
Crapflooding ones own info stream is still crapflooding.
"My God...it's full of trolls!"
'If we were all riding around on Segways now, cities would probably be better places to live compared to the car-infested streets we still endure. But that transformation hasn't happened. And it won’t. Why? Because Segways are lame. They’re too rational. They fail to acknowledge all the irrational reasons people love their cars.'"
Only a complete dork could make such a moronic comment. Everyone riding around in Segways would:
What were you wanting the internet for 20 yrs ago? To read updates to your favorite news group as you walked around?
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
....I pretty much see only the bluetooth receiver in the ear all the time primarily with one race, at least here in the US.
Exactly *which* race are you alluding to? The Morons?
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