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The author admits those bullet points can be fixed. The core argument against Glass is it is trying to upheave social norms well before society is ready for the
by gfodor 14y ago
The author admits those bullet points can be fixed. The core argument against Glass is it is trying to upheave social norms well before society is ready for them. Are people ready to have conversations with each other where there is a distracting screen in the corner of their eye at all times? Are you going to be annoyed when it's clear someone is only giving you half their attention, but doing so less overtly than if they were staring at their phone? I put my phone away at dinner, will people be continually turning Glass on and off as they enter and exit conversations?
The fact is phones and tablets had analogues going back hundreds of years in the form of books and wristwatches in terms of social norms. You check your watch, you check your phone. You sit down and read a book, you sit down and read your iPad. Society accepts local distractions where the user overtly makes it clear they are looking at something. There is no equivalent to Glass where the user has a distracting bit of information floating right within their view, but invisible to other people. This is a genuinely new disruption of social norms and it's wide open how people will react to it, and if they will ever accept it.
I don't agree that "it's all a matter of execution." Putting a cyborg-like eyepiece on people and an always-available HUD in front of them is not a foregone conclusion as something most people will ever want in their lives.
I've always said it's going to come down to how stupid you look to other people. And yes, I realize cell phones, etc, were viewed as douchey when they first came out. But the key difference between cell phones (and this is important) is that you could put the cell phone in your pocket, nullifying the douche-factor until you took it out again. If you take off your Glass because you look like a tool, you just completely eliminated the purpose of Glass.
I think the most likely path for Glass is that of the Segway: an uncool device that has amazing practical applications for professionals in certain domains. You'll see them on cops sooner than teenagers at the mall.
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- marknutter 14y agoI don't understand why people think that Glass will only be effective if you're wearing it all the time. Sunglasses are not appropriate to wear all the time, and it's incredibly douchey to do so, and people adjust their habits accordingly. If you want to make sure you don't break any social norms, then just prop Glass up on the top of your head or hang them off your shirt colar when it's not appropriate to be wearing them. And Glass isn't upheaving social norms any more than the iPhone did. It wasn't acceptable to be staring at a phone all the time but now everybody does it. I think people's reaction to Glass' is more a commentary on the current state of smartphone use and social etiquette than Glass being any more intrusive and conspicuous.
- gfodor 14y agoI don't know if I buy the sunglasses analogy. Sunglasses are inappropriate to wear when it's very obvious that they are unneeded due to there being no sunlight. If you are in sunlight, they are suddenly appropriate. Also, in the right context, sunglasses make you look really good. In what contexts will Glass be appropriate? Will they be contexts that are generally accepted and clear? How often will you be taking them on and putting them off? Will you be keeping them off more than on? Will Glass always make you look doofier than without it, so the pressure is to only put it on when it's "worth it"? At some point if you are not wearing Glass very often due to various other reasons two things are going to happen. First, Glass's overall utility is going to be limited to "on-demand" applications. This is clearly not what Google is going for since the dream of Glass is that you will be able to capture much more spontaneous moments since it's an always-available camera. Second, you are going to have to weigh the utility of (this now limited) device against your other devices and the annoyance of carrying it around on your head all the time. Eventually if the thing is not useful or you feel like a dork wearing it you are going to start leaving it at home.
- gertef 14y ago> then just prop Glass up on the top of your head This would give fascinating insight into a topic most people ignore: cieling fixtures. Also, would provide great longitudina personalized weather data, to determine if rainclouds really do follow some people around.
- Svip 14y agoJust because something is socially accepted, doesn't necessarily mean it is a good thing nor something we - as a society - can live with for eternity. Many things we would deem completely unacceptable today used to be socially accepted. And numerous times, these acceptable items have been but mere phases in popular availability, until people realised, 'hey, why are we ruining human interaction?' and then it became unacceptable again. People are already talking about - and have for a long time - the problem with smartphone use and social etiquette. Personally, I try to avoid my phone as much as possible whenever I am at a dinner party or visiting family. You know, be polite and show some goddamn respect.