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Why I'm Sending Back Google Glass
Lucas123 (935744) writes "After using Google Glass for several weeks, Computerworld columnist Matt Lake had plenty of reasons to explain why he returned them, not the least of which was that they made him cross-eyed and avoid eye contact. Google Glass batteries also drain like a bath tub when using either audio or video apps and they run warm. And, as cool as being able to take videos and photos with the glasses may be, those shots are always at an angle. Of course, being able to do turn-by-turn directions is cool, but not something you can do without your smart phone's cellular data or a mobile hotspot. The list of reasons goes on... Bottom line, if Google Glass is in the vanguard of a future class of wearable computers, the future isn't the present."
I do want them but I am holding out until they are a little more powerful.
Anyone who expects them to be anything the than a preview of what is yet to come is an idiot.
But please feel free to clutter up the world with more pointless articles.
+----------------- | What is the question!
Retinal display will be the key to success.
Right now it's bullshit.
I can easily see how he could have these problems. His use case is ridiculous.
I can't imagine a sane human being putting on Google Glass and thinking "hey, I'll watch video or read web pages on this thing!" That's almost the opposite of a normal use case. I can't imagine looking at the screen for more than a few seconds at a time.
The value of glass:
1. Non-distracting notifications of emergent information
I don't take my phone out of my pocket every time it buzzes. I don't constantly read twitter every time I happened to pull it out to see what that buzz was. Instead, I just live my life. If I'm walking somewhere, and glass buzzes, I can, at my leisure, cock my head slightly to turn on the display and read the message. If there's a short followup, I speak it into Glass. If there's a long one, I, at my leisure, deal with it later on my phone.
2. Navigation
I'll be honest. For driving, or especially biking/touring, the turn-by-turn is worth the current price of admission even if that is the SOLE use. Trying to mount a phone on a motorcycle/bicycle, let alone pull a phone out of one's pocket while biking, is laughable. The navigation is amazing to behold the first time you use it. For a frequent biker/traveler, it's already indispensable/
3. Candid photos
I have a large collection of interesting shots of my life now. The photos are indeed at an "angle" much of the time. Who cares? If I want to take a picture, I use my phone, or a real camera. I use Glass solely to catch, again, emergent moments. Something interesting happens, and I snap a photo discretely and immediately. For that use case, I defy a regular camera or smartphone to be deployed and used quickly enough without similar "angle" or "shot framing" issues.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/...
Glass is primarily a notification tool coupled with a navigator and a quick-draw smartphone.
I'm not saying Glass is perfect. Far from it. It has a long way to go. But this guy appears to be trying to use it in the least imaginative and least useful ways possible. He's doing the equivalent of complaining that he cant edit 4k video on his phone, or that he can't easily make toast with his flamethrower.
GeekNights!
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While I still consider Glass to be a solution without of problem, unless people use and find problems with them, innovation will not occur. There is a process of failing that precedes success. I understood when I bought Glass there would be issues. I wear them to find these issues and attempt to improve them. That is why I love to program. I like to make things better.
I read the complaints on the Explorer board, and I am shocked that people expected a perfect product. This is meant to be beta testing. Google has been very clear about this.
If you don’t wish to seek innovation, and you are afraid of things not going perfectly, send them back. You are probably not the type of person who seeks to improve the world around them.
Opti-Grab, anyone? (see The Jerk)
When the last vestiges of privacy are finally destroyed, we will all live in harmony and love under the rule of Google. This guy is an idiot.
I'm pretty sure he won't get it.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
But please feel free to clutter up the world with more pointless articles.
The article sums up two fundamental problems for Google Glass:
It's called glassing out. You look cross-eyed. People can't make eye contact with you, and they read things into your lack of eye contact.
I had surgery to gain control over a "wandering" eye when it became obvious how much my inability to maintain eye contact was costing me both at home and at work.
People fear surveillance. They don't want a recording device waved in front of them. And that's how many people see Google Glass. People avoid talking to you when you wear them.
No amount of frames or shades conceals the glowing prism at the front that brands you a Glass-exploring neo-cyborg.
Loss of eye contact makes it difficult to build trust --- and the ever-present "in-your-face" camera only makes things worse.
2) Provide 3d visual effects by granting different views to different eyes. (not relevant to google glass - yet)
3) Discrete use of the device.
While the complaints mentioned are insightful, they do not bear on the benefits of wearable computers.
Wearable computing is coming. People don't want to use hands and we want to be able to check our messages, email, txts, discretely.
The only real thing holding us back is a good discrete input device. Possibly something blue toothed to the google glass, so we will be truly discrete instead of having to whisper commands to the google glass.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com