Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Should I Get Google Glass?
lunatick writes "I put in my application for Google Glass as a joke. I never figured I would be selected. Well in less than one week I got my invite to buy Google Glass. My main hold back is the $1500 price tag for a device that just seems to be a camera and navigation aid. Does anyone in the /. community have Google Glass and can they give some advice to the rest of us considering it?"
Period
Pretty soon there will be a $399 version that's 10x better than the first generation.
If you can get $1,500 worth of fun showing it off to people in the first year then sure.
G.
No, I really have no use for the camera part. I perfer s SLR. My question is more what apps are out there?
The Lunatick, Carpe Corpus!
You could buy a GoPro and the best unlocked smartphone money can buy and still end up saving cash over something that looks like a kid's spy toy.
It costs money to fix a broken nose. Don't forget to factor that in.
When I was trying one in demo that was doing lots of video shooting, it didnt even last two hours.
I hear lots of wearables have this issue. You want something to go all day.
The upcoming version could be better.
Kinda like the 'if you have to ask, you can not afford it', if you balk at $1,500, it probably is not for you. Google Glass right now is an expensive toy for people who either can afford to chunk the cash into entertainment or derive enough social benefit from owning one to justify the cost.
Granted there are also some tinkerers out there that are playing with them, but I suspect they are kinda like the 3d printer market, present but fairly niche. For the most part, either you make enough that the cost is nothing to you, or you decide the social status from your peer group is worth the outlay.
You need an invite to BUY a product. This trick has worked in so many different products and services, for example facebook or 'limited edition' coin collections on late night T.V. There's probably some other very good examples, but those were the first two that came to mind.
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
The main idea behind getting Google Glass now is to help improve it. Develop apps for it that enhance the experience. If you're not going to do that, I'd consider the money poorly spent.
I can't see shelling out $1500 for the privilege of what amounts to beta-testing Google Glass. Honestly, Google should be paying the testers, not the other way around. It's not like they're low on cash.
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
I have a friend that has Google Glass. I have tried it and found it to be very underwhelming. Right now it is really just a very expensive toy and in its current form I do not see it ever being really all that useful.
If you do get it, you should probably have an Android 4.0.3+ phone, so you can do SMS and GPS with it.
Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
Another no. At least, not until most of your neighbors are cyborgs.
I put in my application for Google Glass as a joke.
I don't think you understand what a "joke" is. Unless, that is, the information you supplied on the application is funny in some way.
You want some advice? Here's some advice: buy it, and wear it into a biker bar. Before you go to the bar, leave a note for your next of kin, asking them to post the recorded video on Youtube. That way, we can all share in the joke.
No, I really have no use for the camera part. I perfer s SLR. My question is more what apps are out there?
You don't spend $1500 on a device without having a use case. And if you can't even google a list of google glass apps, then I doubt you can even formulate a use case.
In which case just send me the $1500 and we'll be both happy - you will have divested yourself of $1500 for no reason at all (which you were already going to do) and I have a use case for $1500 more of camera equipment.
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
n/m
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Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
I'm an early adopter because of my employer. We do mobile development and have been pushing to be a leader in Glass development. I've had a lot of hands on time with the device and its is a really cool piece of tech but there's a bunch of gotchas for it.
1. Its limited. There's little it can do right now that isn't handled better on your smartphone.
2. Battery usage is pretty abysmal. If you're looking to get a solid 8-10 hours of casual usage, you won't make it.
3. Its expensive. $1500 is a lot for what it can do.
Those things are severe downsides as a non-developer. However, if you're interested in learning how to develop on the device and juicing up your resume with wearable design / implementation experience, then for someone like me (a mobile developer), the $1500 is an investment that you get to play around with on your off hours.
So if you want to be a leading edge developer and you can back up your interest with cash, go for it. If you're looking for a good investment on a solid end user experience you will be disappointed, just wait for the consumer version to hit the market.
"Don't feel bad for me child; I'm the monster that hides under your bed."
Google held a "glass event" in my city the other day and I had a chance to try it out.
I found it awkward to use: the gesture interface is clunky, voice commands are obtrusive to people nearby, and it takes way too much attention and focus to use the screen. I found it harder to use Glass while walking around than it is to use an Android smartphone while walking around.
Also, the apps they had available to demo -- which I can only assume are some of the best existing on the platform right now, because why would you demo anything other than the best? -- were not particularly useful. The closest that came to being cool was a program that used the camera to take pictures of signs in foreign languages and then display them translated to English. I could see that being useful if you travel in foreign countries extensively, but even then the experience was clunky -- you had to pick which language you thought the sign was in and aim the camera directly at the middle of the sign for it to work. And even then the translation wasn't "stable:" there was one German word displayed along an arch instead of a straight line where the translation kept shifting between completely different words as the viewing angle changed slightly.
If you want to develop apps for Google Glass, it might be worth getting. But if you just want to use it, it's not ready yet. Personally, I think it's actually a regression in functionality compared to what people like Steve Mann and Thad Starner had a decade ago, because it lacks both a reasonable input interface (e.g. a twiddler) and software that actually does something that a smartphone can't.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
If you aren't, spend the $1500 anywhere else.
The fact that everyone seems to be getting an invite indicates that I theory I have held since the first Google Android phone came out might be true. Google does not know how to make an affordable piece of consumer technology. Google does not know how to market a piece of consumer technology except through marketing process like this where they try to make the device seem very scarce and available only to a select group. Google has not built up the trust with the public to make anyone who buys something like this feel anything other than an extreme early adopting Guinea pig.
I might buy it if I get external funding. However the horror stories of lack of customer support for the first Google phone, and those who paid for other Google services, make me realize that I am giving two grand for a product, not for help from any company backing it. It is also the reason why I tend not to use MS products. If something is only supported by third parties, and not by the manufacturer, it make me worry about quality.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
The cost is not worth it, not for a device that you'll be using for yourself.
I have one that I got for research purposes, and I love it. However, I would not have paid my own money for it. It does not provide $1500 of utility at the moment.
Now, if you are looking to get into wearable computing application development, that's a different story and I'd say get one. Try to get your company to pay for it, though.
With 1500$ you can get a desktop CNC machine or a 3D printer. If you shop around, maybe both.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
You shouldn't try to find $1500 worth of value in the current product. If there was, they'd be selling it to everyone.
Take a look at a list of apps and see if this is a technology you'd find fascinating, and decide based on whether you have the time and resources to invest into exploring it.
Glass today is basically like Internet access in 1994. Slow, expensive, flawed and of no practical value -- but interesting and fun for those with the time and interest to tinker with it.
The $1500.00 price tag set me back as well. I don't love being a first adopter that much! There are five alternatives to Google Glass here if you want to consider something more reasonable.
You can record people 1000x easier and less conspicuously with a smartphone in your hand or pocket than with Google Glass. Yes SMARTPHONE IN YOUR HAND too. You can hold it in your hand and point it to people without being totally obvious about it. You can act like you are just holding your phone, or texting, or listening to music, or even being on the phone. You don't need to look at the thing you are recording. You may have some image stabilization issues if you have unsteady hands -- but for the most part you can get good video. Of course the easiest way is to have the phone in your shirt pocket peeping out.
With Google Glass, you literally have to stare in the people's direction or general area like a stalker -- it becomes SUPER obvious.
Your or my $1500 might not be the same.
Since he doesn't have a use case for the device - or doesn't know that there might be a neat use case that he's not aware of (hence the ask /.) - it's a question of "Is $1500 too much for lunatik to spend on a toy."
I've been wanting something like this since I was a kid. Even if for no reason other than to feel totally cool. (Yes, everyone else will think I'm a dork for wearing it, but that's the story of my life. I wear by 8-bit tie proudly!)
We bought two pair for our company to play with. I have one and my business partner has another.
The only real use we have had for them is taking videos and pictures of our kids. Don't get me wrong, they are FANTASTIC for that.
But both of us really can't find the use for them, other than a cool method of capturing video. Not $1500 worthy, wait for the commercial version.
Thanks for telling us that you are someone to avoid.
Google Glass offers an incredible option for some/most people.
Replace all your gadgets with just one. If you already wear glasses, you can replace all your gadgets with none (since you already wear the gadget).
The possibility to have a lot more "information at your fingertips", so to speak.
Boredom will be a thing of the past.
And, when you're asleep, nothing will bother you (unless you wear your glasses to bed)--it's better than being deaf.
Many people only see the down side and there is a down side. Already dysfunctional people (that's all people) will have the temptation to become more dysfunctional. Playing D&D/GTA/etc. on your Google Glass could get you in trouble if you can't keep the difference between the "games" and real life.
For $1,500 you could buy an Oculus Rifts, small form factor PC, battery rig, and a couple of EyeToys, and have a real augmented reality display, with money left over.
And, you know, look like a complete idiot, instead of an 80% idiot.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Slashdot: news for nerds who dislike new technology.
Most of the time you want to see one line of information or one picture: info like time, weather, message, newsheadline. You dont want to fumble with pulling out a smartphone to see these all time. Google Glass will display 10 lines of 40+ characters on their 360 scanline display. Thats far more than I'd usually want to read for most uses.
The problem with early wearables are they are over designed to do too much like a smartphone or desktop. That makes them expensive, difficult to use, and short battery life. I am learning toward a watch as my wearable message machine.
Buddy of mine was selected, and his company bought it for 'testing purposes as well like most here. Anyways, he brought it out one day and was showing it off to a bunch of us nerds getting beers at the local watering hole. Honestly, I got bored with it after 2 minutes of fumbling around with it. Its clumsy and did not bring me "value". In stead of looking down at your phone, getting the same information, now you can stare straight ahead at someone across the table and appear engaging in a conversation but instead with your "Glass "as you would engage with your phone. Its the new modern day version of the fanny pack in my opinion. But to answer OP, should you get Glass? No. Go invest your 1500 wisely elsewhere. (score: 0)
This is my signature.
it's a question of "Is $1500 too much for lunatik to spend on a toy."
And we can answer that how?
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
My opinion of GG:
1: I don't want to get punched in the face because people get tired of being recorded.
2: I don't want to hit the restroom, forgetting to take the glasses off, and be hit by a felony, improper photography charge.
3: I don't care about seeing ads when I look around.
4: I have enough electronic gizmos to watch out for. I don't need another attractive target for a mugger [1] to single me out for.
5: I work with IT stuff all day. Similar to #4, I just want as little as possible.
6: I don't want another nice attack surface for a blackhat to attack or mess with.
7: GG is like Nitendo's Virtual Boy in a lot of respects... except VB was cooler.
8: What does Google do with the GPS and telemetry data? I don't really need another tracking device on my person.
[1]: When people stopped carrying cash and went to credit cards, it reduced mugging by an extreme factor. Now that every meth-head knows that an iPhone will net them a couple hundred dollars, even if it doesn't work (just the screen alone will sell for a C-note), a decent switchblade and a dark alley makes for a nice base of operations.
Yeah, if you went to college, you probably spent a lot more than $1500 on a "device" (a piece of paper in this example) without having a use case. Most students switch majors three times before they graduate--that's an indication of not having a use case. Check out Master degrees. Most of those are in areas different than the Bachelor degrees. Most people waste a lot more than $1500 on things not having a use case.
[nt]
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
One of my coworkers has one. Honestly, i think it sucks. The resolution is abysmal, and I found the screen impossible to focus on. It promises to provide super fast access to vital information, but in the use case of looking up a stock quote or reading a text message or using a map, i found it far easier to just look at my phone.
to even make out the screen. i had to adjust it constantly. it would always slip on my face so everytime i needed to look at the screen that meant more fiddling with my hands. for something that's supposed to be hands free, it sure did occupy my hands a lot. Then the crummy resolution results in a hard to see result.
if you think you are going to get useful navigation information while you bike or drive, like google implies, thing again. if you think you are going to suddenly exhibit superhuman cognitive abilities as the whole of the web flashes before your eyes and your friends marvel at your ability to recognize everyone and everything, think again. if you think you will look like you are paying attention while secretly watching something in glass, you won't you look like a catatonic idiot.
However, it's not like it holds no promise. this kind of thing is probably the future. And i want a cool wearable hud in the future so i'd honestly like you to buy this piece of crap now and help fix it.
I can't say I was surprised. I knew it was going to happen. The poster clearly stated: "Does anyone in the /. community have Google Glass and can they give some advice to the rest of us considering it?"
queue all the slashdotters who cannot read and have a bias sans experience. Kudos for eschewing the low hanging Oh Noooh! It's Google and it's new and it's different! I'm a gonna punch you in da noze if you wear it! crowd and offering an actual response with some possible value. I get that you probably don't own Glass yourself either, but at least you provided some feedback that actually has some value in it.
I also don't have Glass, but would certainly try it out if I has the $1500.00 In the end it comes down to what the OPs budget is, and how badly they want a new toy. If you are looking to live on the bleeding edge go for it. If you are expecting real utility from Glass for your $1500.00, wait for it to mature. The cost will come down drastically as the capabilities likewise improve.
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
It's equally stupid to like technology just because it's new.
I suspect like most people who've heard about it he dislikes the idea of Google Glass on it's own terms. Not just because it's new.
And are you looking to make apps for it? If not, then wait. It's early days for this type of tech and you will probably kick yourself in 12-18 months for blowing that $1500 on glass. You can still be an early adopter and probably get a better device at a better price by waiting a short while. Heck, even if you are dead set on getting Google Glass, everyone expects the commercial version to be released this year (possibly within the next few months) at a much lower price. Why by now? It would be like buying last year's [insert favorite smartphone here] when you know the new one is just around the corner.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
Do you already have a moustache? If yes, you are probably creepy enough to wear google glass - consider it if you have funds left over after buying a nice pair of tight leather pants.
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people think when they're evaluating technology that they're choosing between buying it today and not buying it. In fact, you're choosing to buy it today or buy it at some point in the future. would you rather spend $1500 today to buy an innovative device with limited use, or would you prefer to spend $1500 in 3 years to buy the same device except it has many uses?
there's no right answer, it will vary from person to person.
Google Glass will enable them to get such incredible data that will just mint money for them
How? You don't believe the garbage about them always recording and sending everything to Google do you?
AND it's a way to put advertising in front of people's eyeballs when they are away from their computers or other devices.
Google is not doing advertising on Glass, nor even allowing other developers to display ads on Glass (though I'm sure people will find a way to work around that).
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Do you have a good ap for them? Otherwise, No.
"You have been selected to receive our exclusive offer! For only $1500...!"
It's a commercial product. Soon (maybe already) anyone with the money will be able to buy one. Probably for less money.
If you want a Google Glass invite code, there are plenty of them on eBay, all with 0 bids. $8.99 or best offer is the going rate for Buy It Now.
Us old guys have been on the Internet wayyy before 1994, more like 1984. Lots of value *even then*. For instance in 1991 I would have had no means of communicating with my wife-to-be without the Internet.
I hear there's a filter in Google Glass that fixes Slashdot Beta. I'd go for it.
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
But wait until the technology can be added to normal-looking eyeglasses.
There are lots of applications for Google Glass technology that have nothing to do with voyeurism.
The people who are scoffing at Google Glass right now just can't afford it yet.
You are welcome on my lawn.
How so?
Unless you're rich and $1500 is a piddling amount of moola...
I also got an invite to order Google Glass and politely declined. $1500 is too much for a product that isn't fully realized. Yet, Google Glass holds interest to me because it holds a possibility of improving the lives of deaf folks like me... REAL TIME CAPTIONING, right in front of our eyes. That would completely change LIVES. (Yes, I recognize that similar technology on Youtube produces lamentable results.) What disappoints me is that Google doesn't seem to recognize it, or deems it an inadequate market to follow. You really think it wouldn't be cool to more or less create a version of the Babelfish from Hitchhiker's Guide? Or recognize that if you erased communication difficulties, you'd be one step closer to a civilized world where we can exchange ideas WITHOUT throwing poo?
Glass uses bone conduction for sound (which wouldn't work for a person with truly profound nerve deafness, like myself), and has stated that they do not recommend the Glass for deaf users. While it's not the same as "get to the back of the bus", it's still disappointing to be marginalized in such a way. But I'll remain hopeful that one day, Google recognizes what they could do for folks like me, and enable us to communicate with "norms" without ya'all looking like fools :)
It won't be the same device in 3 years. It'll be lighter, more powerful, and less expensive.
I once spent $600 on a CD recorder, and spent $1000 on an eMagin HMD that Nvidia made obsolete with the next driver release. The lesson I learned is to never be an early adopter unless the expense is trivial to you so it falls into the toy budget.
I would have expected a question like this on a website where they post things like "This is now a Spiderman thread" and the like.
("Post ending in trips decides", and "Lunatick delivars!" etc.)
How so?
She is a computer program.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
1: I don't want to get punched in the face because people get tired of being recorded.
If you spend your time around violent people who are willing to risk incarceration and monetary penalties for assaulting someone over a piece of technology they posses - sounds to me you actually need a device which not only is capable of recording and uploading for safe keeping incidences of such attacks but it also makes it very obvious that you are in possession of such a device, thus preventing instances of getting "punched in the face because people get tired of X".
2: I don't want to hit the restroom, forgetting to take the glasses off, and be hit by a felony, improper photography charge.
Again. Evidence retaining device. Proves your innocence in court and to police.
Proves harassment and malice on the part of the person suing you. Thus either making people around you more polite OR making you money in counter suits for harassment.
3: I don't care about seeing ads when I look around.
Me neither. Which is why I'm using add blockers on my phone. And computer.
Now if there was something that could block them in real life... but Glass is not there yet.
4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Oh... So you went into IT for the money... huh? So sorry to hear that.
Too late to switch to being a banker? Or a lawyer?
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
For that kind of money, I'd personally be far more inclined to buy one of the Samsung tablets with a stylus, and still have enough money left over for a cheap desktop to replace my aging P4. And the only reason I want the Samsung is I have some ideas about software to develop for it; I have no use for it's built-in default "apps".
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Oh, Krieger san! (Archer)
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
...oookaaay, You sound *way* too knowledgeable about surreptitious recording techniques. I do hope you'll take it personally if I don't invite you to join my friends and I at the pub [chuckle]
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
I don't think you understand what a "joke" is.
Jokes don't necessarily have to be funny... Jokes can be simply things that are not to be taken seriously...
E.g., This job is a joke. That test was a joke. My car is a joke. Beta is a joke.
Perhaps: s/beta/google glass/
Funny? Nah...
...at all times it has to enhance my vision, not distract it.
Google Glass, AFAIK, does not meet this criterion yet.
How so? Glass is mostly useless without a smartphone. So it gives you the option to replace your smartphone with a smartphone and a low resolution display you wear on your face.
And if you can't even google a list of google glass apps, then I doubt you can even formulate a use case.
Maybe that will be the first thing he does on them.
I wouldn't be surprised if that is the first action take by most people when first using their new Google Glasses.
Nice one! Let me elaborate on that theme a bit further:
Slashdot: News for nerds who value their privacy and that of others
Or
Slashdot: News for nerds who value their teeth because they might bump into someone who actually DOES dislike new technology.
Or
Slashdot: News for nerds who value their teeth because they might bump into someone who actually likes new technology AND knows what it might do AND values his/her privacy and has no way of telling you are filming them without their consent.
Or
Slashdot: News for nerds who got rid of gmail because of privacy concerns, who actively block cookies, trackers, google-ads because of privacy concerns, who use xquick instead of google because of privacy concerns, who (after all that effort) do not want to impose Googles tech on others (with or without consent).
rm -rf --no-preserve-root /
Is there anything preventing resale?
I see people selling theirs for >$1500 on eBay, and selling just invite-codes for $50+
GG is like Nitendo's Virtual Boy in a lot of respects... except VB was cooler.
The Virtual Boy was a lot of things: bulky, clumsy, headache inducing, boring, battery killing etc. But it was not cool. Its only hope of having any coolness comes from the fact that it is a piece of Nintendo history. Thats it.
My friend had one plus a few games and I played with it for a while. One word to describe it: terrible. He said I could have it as I wanted it for its collectors value. His mother threw it away without his knowing. It was a real shame.
If you block out the privacy invading camera for a moment (believe me, I am no fan of it) Google Glass is a pretty damn cool piece of technology. Its not perfect but I can imagine all sorts of applications especially in the areas of augmented reality.
I imagine it would be pretty fantastic in these areas:
Imagine a construction crew arriving at a location and they pull up the plans which are then overlaid right before their eyes. They can literally see where the numerous underground pipes, wires and other subterranean items are as if they had x-ray vision. The crew would have a nice bright green shape drawn on the ground where they need to dig.
Or how about fixing your car/computer/whatever? Look under the hood and a guide highlights the part or area you need to investigate. Same can go for building maintenance. Just where the hell is the circuit breaker for the theater lights anyway? Oh I just follow this little green path on the floor to the glowing green square around the panel box and flip breaker #4.
Navigation can be overlaid in real time which is easier than a nav system because you follow a line painted right on the road as you are looking at it. Though that might be a thing of the past with self driving cars on the horizon.
And too many other things to list. Its really exciting tech but that damn camera ruins it for everyone.
We can't. It's the question lunatik has to ask himself.
"3: I don't care about seeing ads when I look around."
I think you mean you don't want to see ads when you're just looking around (presumably ads displayed by the glasses).
Maybe there's an app that recognizes and blocks from view all billboards and neon signs. That would be pretty good!
The purpose of these invites is to get GG in the hands of developers who will write apps that take advantage of the environment it runs in.
If you are not such a developer then you mau be hindering it's acceptance by keeping it's out of the hands of such a developer.
OTOH if GG takes off, then in ten-twenty years, then these first editions will become collector items, worth mucho dinero.
no, it's a choice of whether to spend $1500 now or spend $600 (or whatever) 6-9 months for now when it's available to the general public.
conclusion: you forget to take your meds today.
I got one several months ago because I wanted to try building apps for it. If you absolutely have to play around with the bleeding edge of technology, if you are willing to spend that kind of money on a device so that you can be the one who invents what it's used for, then go for it. Otherwise, it's not worth it.
Your fantasies contain the seeds of important concepts.
Does it do some task that you feel is worth $1500, then yes.
A while ago I was also accepted to the glass explorers program. I was pretty excited at the time, and was planning to go ahead and get one. I'll admit to being a bit of a Google fanboy, though recently they've lost some of their shine in my eyes.
At the time, there were a few compelling reasons why I decided to wait, which I summarized here: Why I'll Wait on Glass
One thing to consider, is that along with the $1,500 price tag, unless you live close to one of the fitting centers, you'll also have to book airfare and hotel, which can be as much as the Glass itself, so that really raises the price a lot. At least, this was the case when I was invited to the program, it may have changed.
For those who don't like clicking G+ links, here's my full original post:
Why I'll Wait on Glass
So, I received my invitation to purchase #googleglass and become a #glassexplorers . Google notified me that I had 14 days to make my purchase and schedule a pickup date.
I've put a lot of thought into this, and decided not to move forward with the purchase. I'm outlining my reasons below, and I hope that the amazing folks on the Glass team can take this post with the spirit that it's intended: as constructive, objective feedback from a developer who is a huge Google fan.
When I first heard about Glass, I was gobsmacked. The notion of having a powerful, wearable computing device with an array of sensors, camera and floating UI always available to the user, with speech recognition and integration with wireless services - well frankly, I had trouble containing my excitement.
At the local bar, I waxed on (to annoying lengths, I'm sure) about how this was a revolution in technology. How it would change the world and the way we interact with it.
I shared my excitement with my family, and when I was selected as a #glassexplorers they had to pull me down out of the clouds.
I was busy planning apps that I was going to develop, I had visions of an app where I could say "ok glass, find my car" and a floating 3d compass arrow would appear and guide me.
I had visions of walking into my house and saying "ok, glass turn on the lights, lock the doors, arm security", and seeing an interactive display of all my devices. I would be able to say "ok, glass show front camera" and I would be able to look out of the security camera on my front porch.
I had ideas for interactive augmented reality games, where the user could scan the sky for alien UFO's and see 3d spaceships through the Glass display window.
I eagerly refreshed myself on OpenCV, preparing for all the computer vision awesomeness I would be able to develop (I'd already done some of this work on android tablets, using the native sdk).
With all of these visions in my head, I set out to begin development. Finally the new api was released. I sat down at my main development box, pulling up the docs, expecting to see all of the richness of the Android API plus Glass specific enhancements.
What I got was: Cards. A completely non-interactive API where I had to broker every request through a complex chain of servers where eventually, at some point, some static text or images may or may not popup on the user's screen.
I was actually in disbelief. I was sure I was missing some documentation somewhere. I poured through the docs, trying to understand what I was looking at. I felt that I must be missing something really obvious. From what I could tell, the amazing awesomness that was Glass, was limited by the API to being essentially nothing more than a SMS messaging system, similar to text messages on my cell.
None of my applications were possible. I couldn't talk to the accelerometer or other sensors. All I could do was go through a strange "add my app as a contact" process so that I could post text messages with some limited media to the user's timeline. That's it. Interactivity was limited to glorified hyperlinks that would post a me
Drinking habits can be dangerous. You can choke on the cloth and the nuns will wonder where their clothes are.
True, but if you're an app developer that's actually a sensible reason to drop the dough now and get familiar with the platform so you're ready when it becomes viable for pragmatist adopters.
I have a number of things bought for that exact reason - like the Occulus Rift.
However to me buying Glass for development research does not seem like it will provide value. I don't see glasses (in the generic) being the primary wearable device from factor ever - nothing close to watches or even hats in terms of how many people are willing to use them.
If you are thinking about buying Glass for development reasons get a Pebble and develop for that instead.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Google Glass is going to take off like wildfire
The reason I know that statement is not correct, is because in general most people don't like wearing glasses.
Glasses are not a good form-factor for wearable devices. They are hard to integrate with real glasses for people who need them to see, and those who do not need them to see don't want to have to wear glasses. There is not enough value provided over something like a smart-phone or smart watch to overcome that.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Thank you to the /. community for their input. Based on the replies my first instinct was correct. Forget about it!
I work as a FF/Medic and I know there are apps being developed for that area but I have no ability to create apps for it beyond an idea. I was hoping you could put notes on it as a heads up display that may help in patient care or in rescue.
From the list of apps that some provided me I find the apps all useless.
I appreciated all the input and hope others find it useful as well.
Thank you
The Lunatick, Carpe Corpus!
"My main hold back is the $1500 price tag for a device that just seems to be a camera and navigation aid. Does anyone in the /. community have Google Glass and can they give some advice to the rest of us considering it?"
Don't be a child. Put your $1,500 into a retirement fund. With the way the U.S. economy is going, you will need it.
Circle the wagons and fire inward. Entropy increases without bounds.
We've got a pair at the office, so I've spent a bit of time playing around with it gathering some impressions. My answer to your question would be an overwhelming NO.
1. It's in beta, but it's waaaay more beta than you think. The interface is fairly ordinary, it's not hard to crash it, and I couldn't help but think over and over again, "I'm really surprised this was released in this state." It's in limited release because if you gave it to the general public they'd think it was crap. You have to been and willing to experiment with dodgy tech to stick with this.
2. It's uncomfortable. The screen (which sucks - see point 1) can be adjusted but there's nowhere you can put it that _isn't_ uncomfortable to look at. Wearing it for any longer than an hour or so gave me a headache. You might adjust to it but I recently read (on here, I think) of a long time advocate and user who gave his up because of headaches. On top of this, shortly after using it, it starts heating up. It's not going to burn your face but it's not pleasant, either. Maybe it's a winter accessory.
3. It doesn't do much. This can only improve with time, but right now there isn't a single app that interested me. Oh, my glasses can tell me I have a new email? And maybe read it to me a little bit? Or I can make a phone call by touching the side of my head and talking to myself? If that sounds like $1500 worth then sign up now. But maybe take a look at the cheaper smart-watch alternatives before you do.
4. You look like a dick, and nobody wants to talk to you. You look stupid when you wear them and kind of like you're having a stroke when you try and operate it. Eventually you'll probably be regarded as a pioneer, like those dudes who first started talking to themselves with hands-free kits for their phones, but for now, you look strange. And seriously, I can't overstate enough how much it puts people off when you're wearing these things. Nobody wants to be recorded all the time.
Anyway, that's probably the worst of it. The video quality is alright and the battery life didn't seem as bad as somebody else was mentioning. But yeah, it's really nothing to write home about. In fact the thing that amazed me the most about Glass was how underwhelmed I felt by the whole thing. I couldn't believe that _this was it_. And I'm not the only one, either. We're an office of maybe 60 people, and after myself and one other guy played around for maybe a day or two each, it's been sitting on a desk doing nothing ever since. It just really doesn't do anything to make it worth the hassles listed above.
Good luck!
Seriously guys there are WAY easier and cheaper ways to record people without their consent. Spy glasses were there for years and privacy is the dumbest thing to point out in Google Glass. It's a huge misconception that Glass changes anything in that matter. Try actually using Glass for a few hours before you voice your opinion. It's a very limited device for now, but it's very shortsighted to dismiss its potential.
I do see something like glass being great for military, fire, police (especially police). Basically having a HUD that could show navigation/GPS overlaid with fellow soldiers or objectives (hey, just like FPS games!?) would be valuable. Or recording everything that is said/done during an interaction with the public would be great for keeping police and subjects honest after the fact. (assuming there was some kind of verification that the audio/video wasn't tampered with.).
(The one Biker who knows what Glass is couldn't make it out if his mother's basement because he's too hammered)
I have never met a bigot that I thought was encumbered by too much intelligence. I'm glad to see that my own bias' against retards that equate appearance (or hobby) to IQ hasn't been scuffed.
That's like being the first person on your block to own a Zilog.
I was online in 1994 (heck, I owned/operated an ISP...) and I'd prefer it over the internet of today. There was tremendous practical value at that time - especially for research/academics.
Those creepy guys are called "street photographers", whatever that means.
Using Google to recognize things around you and offer more info. Working on your oven door and Glass offers up the Ovens owners manual. Look at a restaurant and see overlays of menus and reviews. Get wiki pages on historical sights. Remind you of the name of that guy you met at that meeting last week. Information is king. Glass has the ability to quickly and seamlessly offer that information to me.
I for one want to see the stuff that I can not even imagine yet.
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
Can not have cars. People can run you over with them!
Ban Aircraft, Guns, Knives, Sticks, Computers, CD's, MP3s, Violent Video Games, Cap Guns, Paintball businesses, and everything else.
Just curl up in a ball and STFU already. Your life is over.
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
- It's not disclosed prominently, but you have 30 days from date of delivery or pickup to return Glass for a refund (assuming in full working order with everything, etc- don't drop and step on it!).
- If you can, pick it up at a Glass showroom. They're very helpful in adjusting the nose pads and display for you, answering any questions, and getting you started. The private Explorers online community has a lot of enthusiastic users ready to discuss their experiences and ideas.
- Warning- if you're an iPhone user, you're a second class citizen in the Glass ecosystem. You'll need a data plan compatible with Personal Hotspot (i.e. NOT compatible with grandfathered unlimited plans from AT&T). Apple restrictions on access to system apps and services mean, for example, no iMessage/SMS notifications to or sending from Glass. Every time you ask for route directions, you'll have to pull out your phone and open the MyGlass companion iOS app.
- Will this be the next Walkman/iPhone? I doubt it. Will it find use in niche vertical applications, like medicine, environmental exploration, etc? Sure. If you're a developer and would like to explore those possibilities or just like to tinker with a new gadget, give it a try.
No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
~CmdrTaco on Gla^H^H^H the iPod
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
I'm wearing a goofy visor worth 15 franklins.
Pocket devices like smartphones and PDAs get rough treatment in the field, especially as they tend to get put in bad places
This is a pretty bad argument for replacing that with a very expensive item that's arguably more fragile than the phone, and requires the phone (i.e., some data conduit) anyway in order to function.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
That's because, despite what the idiots on Slashdot assert, the point isn't video. It's having a convenient screen always in view.
then why does it have a camera? if it didn't have a camera, this would solve 95% of the problems people have with the technology.
There is a line I won't cross - and being a complete prick because people feel I could be recording them at any time is something I don't want to be. Ever.
They put a camera on the device and don't have a "recording in progress" indicator anywhere on the exterior. WTF was Google thinking?
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
If you're an asshole, then Yes. Otherwise, No.
Nah, I'm always very open about my street photography. I walk up to someone, photograph them and they see me immediately afterwards.
It's that moment before they react that I want to capture. Afterwards they can do whatever they like. Usually it's 'look confused' but a quick smile reassures them, and I move on.
Yes, this works when photographing children too. Yes, I photograph children. Yes, I post those photos online. Yes, it's legal.
Creepy? Nah.
What you don't see in the cost (why it's cheaper) is that you simply become a cog in the machine. You are tracked, what you see becomes someone else' data, and you lose control to at least some degree. More depending on who is using the data you are providing.
Look, I'm a nerd going way back. I spent lots of time building VR and HPC clusters that were simply mind blowing. Those are external things that are very purposeful. I can tell you that my designs for computation saved the lives of many US soldiers. Tweaking and massaging every part of the machine to get the best performance possible.
Having a pair of company sponsored tracking and monitoring devices on my head does no such good work. It can be used for horrible things as easy as me having a few minutes of feeling cool or sharing a funny view of a street corner. Do you plan to leave them behind when ever you are go into the street, or will you wear them out and potentially help someone monitor people that don't want anything to do with it?
These things go well beyond being a traditional "nerd" who was a mechanic building a beefy roadster to race friends. It's not like transitioning to building a bus or train system where people have a choice to use it. This is like building a one way funnel trap, and you are potentially the sugar in the bottom.
You asked for opinions, and mine is to boycott all of the technology that is being abused or has the potential to be easily abused. Now if Google gave a default opt out and you could only view and track what gave people permission (I.E. Other GoogleGlass users that click a checkbox) my opinion would be different.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Reviews so far sound suspiciously like
No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
But personally I'll hold out until it runs Linux. I don't need backdoors watching everything I watch.
She was an IBM.
Ask me about repetitive DNA
Lighten up Francis!
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
If you do, get it.
But for now, my original alpha test advice is:
a. too heavy
b. not enough battery life
c. too tethered
d. too intrusive
e. you look like a jerk
f. it's illegal to use it the way you think it should be used in many states
g. people will start fights with you if you wear it.
So long as you like being abused, go for it.
Give it another 6 years and a better variant will come out without most of these flaws.
A lot of the useful feedback I got was from female friends of mine. So if you think it will be a babe magnet - oh man you are SO wrong!
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
It won't be the same device in 3 years. It'll be lighter, more powerful, and less expensive. I once spent $600 on a CD recorder, and spent $1000 on an eMagin HMD that Nvidia made obsolete with the next driver release. The lesson I learned is to never be an early adopter unless the expense is trivial to you so it falls into the toy budget.
Or, in the case of Glass, you have a desire or capitalistic need to develop applications for it. This is /. and no one so far in the comments has even mentioned that someone might want to develop an app for it rather than evaluate existing apps for a use/purchase case.
You don't believe the garbage about them always recording and sending everything to Google do you?
One should believe that no more than one should believe Google would scan your Gmail for information.
Nonsense. There are many reasons to believe Google will scan your e-mail but not record everything around you. To begin with, Google tells you they're doing the former and not the latter. For another, the former is technically feasible, while the latter is not.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Oh, a choice to spend $1,500 now, develop a killer application for it, and know that it'll sell when it's available for the general public because you've been the first with that idea. I mean, there was a first "Flappy Bird", and everything that has come after it are just pathetic clones of an original idea. (Or better clones, if you will.) Be the first, make the best, and rule. I would say my idea for a Google Glass app, but I'm keeping that to myself. :)
P
People may forget, but originally GMail was invitation only and the tech world was clamoring for invite codes. All kinds of message board threads where people would throw them out there and others would scramble to use it before someone else grabbed it.
This whole thing with Glass reminds me of that. Whip up a furor over Google Glass being "exclusive" but this time around charge $1500 for the privilege. I would be surprised if very many people were being turned down. By now it's feeling more like a marketing campaign.
hope there's something about your idea that makes it un-copiable.
the apps that rule are the ones that have a team of developers, QE, sales, and marketing behind them. if you don't have (or need) that, then your idea is worthless. long gone are the days when you can make the bic lighter app and reach millions of users. stores are flooded with developers ready to copy whatever's good, and they'll probably do a better job than you with the benefit of hindsight.
not really sure why I would need one but there is a lot of advertising telling me how great they are....
So... same as a phone.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Which gadgets is it replacing, exactly? My car provides a bluetooth connection, and driving is the only time I'm interested in used the phone hands-free. I don't have any particular desire to have a camera available all the time. My phone would be required to use Glass, but it provides every single functionality besides the AR HUD (that is, it has a camera, gyros, accel sensors, faster CPU, and more RAM than Glass).
I don't see any upsides for me, just a way to do the same things I can now while making the people around me paranoid.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Or Apple releases iGlass
Unless you're intending to develop applications for it,
I'm also going to hazard a guess that you could spend the money on other more fun (and/or useful) stuff.
DSLR Lenses, VR headsets, 3D Printers, alcohol and Cryptocurrency mining come first to mind...
I am betting that as soon as this tech kicks in the following will happen:
You will not be allowed to film [or use the recording, say in court] authorities of any kind [border control, police ect.]
You won't be allowed to use it in concert halls [buy buy conductor app], cinemas, theaters, pubs [be sure that many owners will forbid it to keep their clientele], churches, schools [creepy pedo], kindergartens [the same], at work [because you corporate secrets]
Therefore it's primary usefulness will be...wait for it....to collect even more personal data from the slaves while not endangering the masters in any way. Voluntarily! While arguing and fighting among ourselves about it. Brilliant!
I think Brin is having the laugh of his life. He must have heard that in communist states it was common to subscribe for a consumer product and wait for years to get it. But make the right ad campaign and western people will gladly surrender their dignity and line up to wait to give you money!!!. I am speechless...and some idiot above tried to say that there is some financial envy in those bashing the tech? Envy? I am pitying those fools...
Howdy.
As a fellow developer (and someone who doesn't care much for Google's products like Android and Glass), my advise would be to invest the $1,500 toward attending the Google I/O conference instead. You will get a chance to meet all kinds of cool, smart people with whom you can share/bounce ideas. They may offer discounted or flat out hand Glass to attendees (they have some nice toys every year), and the presentations are some of the best in the industry. There'll be plenty of sessions covering Glass there, and the conference will give you a great chance to learn about the device, dev tools, potential future ecosystem, etc. far better than what you're getting from the responses here on Slashdot.
Cheers!
E
http://eugeneciurana.com | http://ciurana.eu
Just this morning I was sitting out in front of a coffee shop in San Francisco when some guy rode by on his bicycle wearing Google Glasses. This group of guys next to me spent the next 10 minutes straight just cracking jokes about that guy and his computer glasses.
If you give regular lectures or presentations as part of your life - and many of us do - something like this will probably pay for the whole kit fairly quickly. The ability to give presentations without fumbling with notes, the ability to walk around while talking and not be stuck behind a lectern, the ability to change slides with perhaps just a subtle nod of the head, make for very much more fluid and effective communication.
If I was still teaching regularly, I would buy one.
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
muggers can be anywhere, especially with the economy still in such a bad state.
They can be anywhere when the economy is not in such a bad state. But the funny thing is that violent crime has generally been down almost every year since peaking in 1992. There were little bumps up in 2001 (about 1%, not including 9/11), 2005 (about 2%), 2006 (about 3%), and 2012 (less than 1%); you might remember the middle two as times when the economy was considered to be in a pretty good state. The final numbers for 2013 won't be available until much later in the year, but there seems to have been a relatively sharp drop in crime for at least the first half.
There's a lot of debate about why. Improved education, more resources available for the downtrodden, more career criminals in prison, the removal of lead from gasoline showing unanticipated effects... Pick your favorite. Whatever it is, we have 37% fewer overall crimes being committed despite 23% more population. That's basically half the crime rate we had in 1992.
If you're going to try to get someone not to use Glass, scaring them with warnings of random crime isn't really that effective.
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
Define "a long time." Because the phone I carry is powerful enough to do it, or will be very soon, and Glass is currently using a CPU from 2011.
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
Roddy Piper found a pair of glasses that took all the ads away. It got him into all kinds of trouble.
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
It does have a recording light. Maybe Google was thinking 'smart' people would know how to use Google to find things out before jumping to entirely false conclusions ;)
Why does it need to be Google Glass OR a smartphone?
If I wanted to record people I'd use any one of a thousand hidden camera devices which have been available for 20 years. I've seen hidden cameras in:
Glasses frames
Neck-ties
Pens (at the clip so facing forward when in your pocket)
Belts
Watches
Shirt buttons
And that's just the wearable I can think of.
Master degrees provide salary incentives. In government engineering circles theh difference in starting pay can be $25,000/yr between two people with the same experience and the difference only being a Masters in some engineering arena. Google Glass gets you nothing for a salary incentive.
It's difficult to articulate, but I'd stay away from anything that connects your so persistently to your online stuff. And I say this as someone who absolutely can not live without good net access - but when I'm online, I'm working on my personal and professional development (or reading slashdot). It feels like Google Glass was developed for people who are chronically playing on Facebook (don't give me this nonsense about Google maps and how much better it would be to wear it on your face. Use your smartphone - at least a phone can be tucked away and you can go on with things). Glass represents a shift away from focusing on technology in my mind. It's not an evolution of mobile computing or frankly ANYTHING constructive. I remember a time when laptops were finally becoming affordable and people could put them in backpacks and take them everywhere with them (which was a very liberating time for computer geeks everywhere). Smartphones and Google Glass are not from this tradition, they weren't made for this same purpose - they were made, ultimately, as devices that can personalize marketing through data collecting and location tracking. Whether it's a smarphone or a wearable smart device, you're paying a lot of money so that, down the line, you can be sold things and buy more stuff. You're paying for the device, you're paying for the bandwidth. That's the end game for smartphones and Google Glass, in my view. It's depressing to see about 90% of people in public places staring down at their cell phones and grinning while they're walking into walls and lamp posts. My best advice; not only should you not use Google Glass, you really strongly consider not even using a smartphone (get the dumbest phone you can find if you must have a cell). And, personally, Google Glass looks REALLY stupid sitting on a person's face and it leaves a really bad impression.
...... get Google Glass (to access your One Account for All of NSA Convenience)
Only boring people are ever bored.
Yes, but that requires extra expense and preparation. I can set up my phone to record and leave it with the camera sticking up. That's with what I've already purchased for other reasons and constantly carry around.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
I've had google glass for a couple weeks now. We're trying to get another one for our team to make developing social apps for it easier.
I've been using it in different situations as pilots for some of our ideas and I've been wearing it home and in the office as much as i can.
The meeting/calendar integration is pretty impressive.
believe it or not, wearing it feels like having less of a reliance on technology. I know that sounds weird, but after a week or so it felt true. There is something liberating about not having to pull your phone out all the time. It almost has the feel of having an assistant whispering in your ear (without headphones) that you can ask any question of and who knows exactly where you have to go, how to get there and knowing where you are it knows when you have to leave to get there and even provides information on the people you're going to meet with the addition of apps like refresh and evernote. It paradoxically ends up being less intrusive than your phone or laptop.
We compiled a basic writing app for it and paired with a bluetooth keyboard it's really useful in that sense too.
And yes, the map/directions on this thing is far superior to any other path-finding device. it's amazing to use. I used it to catch my Uber driver trying to screw me over.
Wait until you see some of the apps we are designing for it. And i'm sure there are many great ideas out there waiting on a more stable developer kit.
Not sure if it would be worth it for non-developers at this point with presumably a release coming soon that will be much cheaper.
But what hell, if you have the money i say get it.
Yes, but that requires extra expense and preparation. I can set up my phone to record and leave it with the camera sticking up. That's with what I've already purchased for other reasons and constantly carry around.
Compared to spending $1500 on Glass? Because when I read the Slashdot comments it seems that's all Glass is, a $1500 not so hidden recording device.
As for expense and preparation, most of these devices come in well under $100 and have a single button and a microSD slot, or USB socket.
Sure, if you're an insensitive idiot who doesn't give a fuck about other people's privacy rights and aren't afraid of walking home with a bloody nose, knock yourself out!
http://gamehacking.org/vb/threads/12747-nensondubois-codes http://twitter.com/nensondubois_