4 ms·

I've seen several comments around the web from privacy advocates along the lines of "I'll punch anyone I see wearing glass" or "I'll rip it right off your face"

by gushie 13y ago

I've seen several comments around the web from privacy advocates along the lines of "I'll punch anyone I see wearing glass" or "I'll rip it right off your face" etc. Have there been any reports of this happening yet?

coolsunglasses 13y ago
You expect Internet Tough Guy Syndrome to manifest as physical action? Spend a week in one of the Anarchist newsgroups on Usenet during the early 90s to see how far that usually goes. ;) Edit: Bonus - you'll understand why Fight Club was so popular.
mayanksinghal 13y ago
I certainly hope not. I was quite shocked to see such comments on Hacker News. While I can understand disapproval for the device, but a proud proclamation that someone would physically abuse another person, that seems out of place and very wrong.
treerock 13y ago
http://eyetap.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/physical-assault-by-mcdonalds-for.html http://eyetap.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/physical-assault-by-mcd... Not Google Glass, but similar.
- kimlelly 13y ago
  I overheard a guy at the supermarket checkout, he was saying to what seemed to be his GF that he would actually kick people with a Glass from behind because that way he wouldn't be recorded... not very happy thoughts, I have to admit. What's true though is that we're taking a very dangerous road here: 1. Google Glass means total and permanent surveillance 2. Total and permanent surveillance means people will be afraid to use their right to freedom of expression (out of fear of blowback) 3. Suppressed freedom of expression means: Democracy is dead and a police state becomes very realistic. Who in their right mind wants that?
  - rohansingh 13y ago
    I'm not sure punching people in the face or kicking them in the back counts as "freedom of expression".
    - hnha 13y ago
      no one said that. you are mixing physical violence in. could you elaborate what you mean?
  - daivd 13y ago
    I can't say that I know what will happen, but there is a directly opposite scenario which seems just as likely. As everything is filmed and we get used to it, fewer things remain taboo, people are less ashamed of trivial things (being too drunk, masturbating, expressing unusual opinions, whatever) and people care less of what trivial things others do. It gets lost in the noise. A police state is when only the state owns the information. In this case, ordinary citizens own the information. If it remains legal, it could very well become a good tool for exposing corruption. People do behave better when there is a chance that they are held accountable.
  - randallsquared 13y ago
    daivd's reply to this was reasonable and civil, but you'll have to turn on showdead to see it, now (though none of his other recent comments are dead). Hiding opinions you disagree with is not what the downvote arrow should be used for.
EnderMB 13y ago
This came up in a pub a few days ago, and one guy piped up to say "If I see anyone staring at me while wearing one I'll hit them". The guy next to him laughed and said "Brilliant, then he can kick your ass, film it, and put it all over YouTube". When it comes out, I'm going to buy one, and I'm going to wear it everywhere. I'm willing to bet that no one says anything, and that those that think about doing so won't. People say whatever they want on the Internet, or around friends at the pub, but in the real world they won't bat an eyelid.
- RivieraKid 13y ago
  Thay may not complain directly, but they may start disliking you, stop associating with you etc.
  - daivd 13y ago
    If they "stop associating with you" on account of a pair of glasses, perhaps they were not your friends..
    - RivieraKid 13y ago
      Well, I didn't mean just friends. If you do something other people don't like or something that is socially weird, the average person (friend, stranger, etc.) will have a lower tendency to associate with you.
  - nivla 13y ago
    As much I see the usefulness in Google Glasses, this is how its mostly going to end up. People especially your co-workers will become less open and careful around you since everything they say or do can be recorded and used against them. Why would they risk losing their job over some out of context comment or inside joke that you have a copy of.
    - derefr 13y ago
      I think people's reactions to Glass pretty cleanly divide into two camps by their reaction to "you could be being recorded by anyone at any time": A. those who actually find this to be a novel problem unique to Glass, and B. people who have assumed that since inconspicuous recording of others has always been possible by, say, someone wearing a wire, it was a factor that is unable to be discounted from one's daily activities, and thus it was best to just act as if it were always the case unless one has taken specific steps to guarantee one won't be being recorded. (People with the security mindset, in other words.) The latter group don't seem to have any problem with Glass: they already had their freak-out long ago when inconspicuously recording others around you became possible. Making it easier doesn't change anything for them; it just gives the power to record others around you to people who don't really have a strong motive to use it. The real "attackers" (in the cryptographic sense) never needed it to be easy; they had the motivation and the resources to use the clunky old methods.
RivieraKid 13y ago
I think that's a bit of an overstatement, but some people can react similarly like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDumyGJdLrU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDumyGJdLrU (one guy goes around and videotapes people). Of course, I'm not saying that what the guy does is equivalent to wearing Google Glass. Considering that the camera indicator can be disabled, I wouldn't be comfortable around people with Glasses.
uptown 13y ago
Like cellphones, I expect they'll become objects targeted by thieves - only it's potentially easier to steal since it's sitting on somebody's head, and their focus may not be on their surroundings if they're interacting with Glass.

by gushie 13y ago

coolsunglasses 13y ago

You expect Internet Tough Guy Syndrome to manifest as physical action? Spend a week in one of the Anarchist newsgroups on Usenet during the early 90s to see how far that usually goes. ;) Edit: Bonus - you'll understand why Fight Club was so popular.

mayanksinghal 13y ago

I certainly hope not. I was quite shocked to see such comments on Hacker News. While I can understand disapproval for the device, but a proud proclamation that someone would physically abuse another person, that seems out of place and very wrong.

treerock 13y ago

http://eyetap.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/physical-assault-by-mcdonalds-for.html http://eyetap.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/physical-assault-by-mcd... Not Google Glass, but similar.

kimlelly 13y ago
I overheard a guy at the supermarket checkout, he was saying to what seemed to be his GF that he would actually kick people with a Glass from behind because that way he wouldn't be recorded... not very happy thoughts, I have to admit. What's true though is that we're taking a very dangerous road here: 1. Google Glass means total and permanent surveillance 2. Total and permanent surveillance means people will be afraid to use their right to freedom of expression (out of fear of blowback) 3. Suppressed freedom of expression means: Democracy is dead and a police state becomes very realistic. Who in their right mind wants that?
- rohansingh 13y ago
  I'm not sure punching people in the face or kicking them in the back counts as "freedom of expression".
  - hnha 13y ago
    no one said that. you are mixing physical violence in. could you elaborate what you mean?
- daivd 13y ago
  I can't say that I know what will happen, but there is a directly opposite scenario which seems just as likely. As everything is filmed and we get used to it, fewer things remain taboo, people are less ashamed of trivial things (being too drunk, masturbating, expressing unusual opinions, whatever) and people care less of what trivial things others do. It gets lost in the noise. A police state is when only the state owns the information. In this case, ordinary citizens own the information. If it remains legal, it could very well become a good tool for exposing corruption. People do behave better when there is a chance that they are held accountable.
- randallsquared 13y ago
  daivd's reply to this was reasonable and civil, but you'll have to turn on showdead to see it, now (though none of his other recent comments are dead). Hiding opinions you disagree with is not what the downvote arrow should be used for.

EnderMB 13y ago

This came up in a pub a few days ago, and one guy piped up to say "If I see anyone staring at me while wearing one I'll hit them". The guy next to him laughed and said "Brilliant, then he can kick your ass, film it, and put it all over YouTube". When it comes out, I'm going to buy one, and I'm going to wear it everywhere. I'm willing to bet that no one says anything, and that those that think about doing so won't. People say whatever they want on the Internet, or around friends at the pub, but in the real world they won't bat an eyelid.

RivieraKid 13y ago
Thay may not complain directly, but they may start disliking you, stop associating with you etc.
- daivd 13y ago
  If they "stop associating with you" on account of a pair of glasses, perhaps they were not your friends..
  - RivieraKid 13y ago
    Well, I didn't mean just friends. If you do something other people don't like or something that is socially weird, the average person (friend, stranger, etc.) will have a lower tendency to associate with you.
- nivla 13y ago
  As much I see the usefulness in Google Glasses, this is how its mostly going to end up. People especially your co-workers will become less open and careful around you since everything they say or do can be recorded and used against them. Why would they risk losing their job over some out of context comment or inside joke that you have a copy of.
  - derefr 13y ago
    I think people's reactions to Glass pretty cleanly divide into two camps by their reaction to "you could be being recorded by anyone at any time": A. those who actually find this to be a novel problem unique to Glass, and B. people who have assumed that since inconspicuous recording of others has always been possible by, say, someone wearing a wire, it was a factor that is unable to be discounted from one's daily activities, and thus it was best to just act as if it were always the case unless one has taken specific steps to guarantee one won't be being recorded. (People with the security mindset, in other words.) The latter group don't seem to have any problem with Glass: they already had their freak-out long ago when inconspicuously recording others around you became possible. Making it easier doesn't change anything for them; it just gives the power to record others around you to people who don't really have a strong motive to use it. The real "attackers" (in the cryptographic sense) never needed it to be easy; they had the motivation and the resources to use the clunky old methods.

RivieraKid 13y ago

I think that's a bit of an overstatement, but some people can react similarly like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDumyGJdLrU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDumyGJdLrU (one guy goes around and videotapes people). Of course, I'm not saying that what the guy does is equivalent to wearing Google Glass. Considering that the camera indicator can be disabled, I wouldn't be comfortable around people with Glasses.

uptown 13y ago

Like cellphones, I expect they'll become objects targeted by thieves - only it's potentially easier to steal since it's sitting on somebody's head, and their focus may not be on their surroundings if they're interacting with Glass.