4 ms·

“SNL” Parodies Google Glass

40 points by whosbacon 13y ago

zizee 13y ago
"We're sorry, but the clip you selected isn't available from your location. Please select another clip." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMcpWxF9hbI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMcpWxF9hbI
- karpathy 13y ago
  I only found out After they made me watch their 30 second commercial. Classy.
  - akandiah 13y ago
    I'd encourage you to install AdBlock (on FF or Chrome). It should remove those pesky YouTube commercials.
    - raldi 13y ago
      I don't think the experience he's describing happened on YouTube, but rather on NBC's site.
- skeletonjelly 13y ago
  mirror For the Ctrl-F people like me Edit: And I can't reply to raldi for some reason but Adblock stopped the ad playing on NBC for me.
gkoberger 13y ago
It's too bad Google Glass seems to be going the way of Segways and Bluetooth headsets -- great inventions that everyone is too embarrassed to be seen with.
- d23 13y ago
  Hopefully if/when the technology gets small enough to resemble sunglasses or eyeglasses that will change. Bluetooth headsets never had a chance since they didn't resemble anything non-dorky.
- gosu 13y ago
  Why does the Segway qualify as a great invention? I had always thought of it as worse in every way compared to a bicycle or scooter for able-bodied people.
  - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
    Segways aren’t particularly useful but their balancing system is pretty nifty: http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/civil/ginger1.htm http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/civil/ginger1.h...
    - amalcon 13y ago
      The iBot (the wheelchair using the same technology) was a great invention. The main problem with it was that it was too expensive.
  - conroe64 13y ago
    You don't need to worry about parking your segway outside the place your going to if you enter the building with it. So, opposed to using a bicycle or scooter, someone stealing it while you're away is not an issue. It's upright, so you can be seen crossing the street by motorists, which gives it an advantage over a motorized wheel chair. It saves energy compared to driving a car and it's use would greatly reduce traffic where cars are normally used.
- Avshalom 13y ago
  Segways weren't a great invention that people were embarrassed by. They were an extremely expensive toy that didn't solve anyone's problems and were bulky enough that they made new problems when people tried to use them. Bluetooth headsets... are still being used frequently? They haven't seemed to go any particular way.
adamisen 13y ago
Eat up Martha, or how Google may learn a hard lesson of the 90s. You only get one shot at a first impression.
- acchow 13y ago
  Do you mean that users of glass risk ruining their first impressions with other people? Or that the company that introduces glass (like the introducer of the Segway) risks its first impression to the people? (Because, Google hardly needs a "first" impression)
  - adamisen 13y ago
    If the first public impression is that Glass is awkward and half-baked it will be very difficult for Google to generate mass market appeal. It happened with the Newton, famously mocked on The Simpsons. Apple refined the hell out of the iPhone before making any public statements. That seems to have worked quite well. Better than the Newton launch did anyhow.
tvon 13y ago
SNL parodies everything. I suspect they did some iPhones in their time and that thing is still flying off the shelves.
- jimbokun 13y ago
  iPod invisa. http://www.maxmouth.com/view_video.php?viewkey=f4cc0ad3819a36752467 http://www.maxmouth.com/view_video.php?viewkey=f4cc0ad3819a3...
supercanuck 13y ago
I think the decision to let app developers and other software folks be the first to wear these in public is going to come back to haunt them from a marketing perspective since these sort of people will be the ones people will see wearing them in public first
- kailuowang 13y ago
  I think Google will pursue a smart enough strategy when it comes to marketing this device. The fact that they are working with fashion shows and Warby Parker is a good indicator. That being said, I think the philosophy behind the product development of Google Glass (and most other Google products) is to to focus on being competitive in features, then the marketing is the icing on the cake. From that point of view, having developers trying them first so that great ideas can be implemented before the mass market makes more sense.
  - mratzloff 13y ago
    Google is great at producing technology. But most people don't want technology; they want products. Google is pretty clueless when it comes to making products.[1] The fact that they are working with fashion shows and Warby Parker is a good indicator. It's a good indicator that design is an afterthought to them. Which is more likely? a) Google approached the company at the beginning of the project and worked with them throughout the process. b) Google approached the company toward the end of the project, after the technical components were done. Given the outcome and Google's track record, I'd say B is more likely. That being said, I think the philosophy behind the product development of Google Glass (and most other Google products) is to to focus on being competitive in features, then the marketing is the icing on the cake. Competitive with what? Smartphones? No one will buy Google Glass as a replacement for a smartphone. Marketing is everything for a product like this. From that point of view, having developers trying them first so that great ideas can be implemented before the mass market makes more sense. Google is doing this because they see developers (gadget geeks) as their evangelizers. They're replaying the Gmail strategy. But Gmail doesn't make you look like a guy with a cell phone clipped to his belt. [1] There are some exceptions, like Google Maps and Google Now.
mladenkovacevic 13y ago
I hate to sound condescending or preachy (unavoidable), but small minds will look at anything new with a sense of derision and in particular with regards to how foreign that thing seems directly to them as a vapid consumer. They will not be able to engage their sense of empathy and imagine the possibilities where that new thing might actually benefit someone in a really meaningful way. Bigger minds will look at new things not as a product or the "next thing all the cool people gotta have" but an opportunity to better ourselves, and our relationships with each other. [Too long;Skipped the preachyness]: Those who don't create, critique. But then someone's gotta keep people entertained too.
- ilink 13y ago
  Pretty sure you missed the point of the /comedy/...
  - mladenkovacevic 13y ago
    Well I did laugh so I can't have missed by that much :)
- michaelwww 13y ago
  > but an opportunity to better ourselves, and our relationships with each other. or an opportunity to worsen ourselves, and our relationships with each other. Why would you assume critics are small minded?
- jimbokun 13y ago
  "They will not be able to engage their sense of empathy and imagine the possibilities where that new thing might actually benefit someone in a really meaningful way." "Bigger minds will look at new things not as a product or the "next thing all the cool people gotta have" but an opportunity to better ourselves, and our relationships with each other." Are you seriously invoking empathy and "better relationships with each other", in defending something explicitly designed to distract us even more than we already are from the people around us? And can you elaborate on how Google Glass will benefit us in a "really meaningful" way? As this comedy sketch drives home, if the value proposition is for Google Glass to be less distracting from human interaction, that's a pretty self-evidently farcical position. If there's Google Glass between you and the person you are talking to, you have every reason to believe you are not receiving their full attention. At least with a phone you have to pull out to look at, there is some kind of social signal that you are paying attention to something else right now. I'm sure there are good use cases for Glass I just haven't seen yet, where it can provide a better UI experience than a phone. The ones I've read so far, however, sound awful. Getting spammed with advertisements walking down the street? Getting background on that person you are talking to who's name slipped your memory seems like a nice thing. But I think it just sets a new baseline, where remembering your name doesn't indicate any human connection, as you assume the Glass wearer just Googled you and got a heads up display on how to steer the conversation. So I really do believe there will eventually be some positive use cases for technology like Glass. What this comedy sketch shows is that most of the use cases proposed so far are not it.
capkutay 13y ago
Will glass have any way to indicate to others that you're recording a video or taking pictures? If not, I would always feel a little uncomfortable with someone wearing glass present in the room...
- ben1040 13y ago
  You're either pressing a capture button on the device, or using a voice command to take a picture or video. So it's designed to send a social signal to others that you're doing it. When a video is being recorded, the image appears in the screen. If you're at face-to-face speaking range or a little further away, it's actually not that difficult to see in the image in the display. And even further off you can see what looks like the screen being lit up.
waltz 13y ago
This is just marketing. This will spark conversations by providing arguments that are easy to refute.
doorhammer 13y ago
Warning: IANA-Designer At the risk of sounding like a small-minded narcissist (I'd like to think I'm a moderately minded narcissist) and being that guy, I really can't get over just how awful glass looks aesthetically, especially with the going-out-to-the-shooting-range sunglasses. I'm pretty excited about it as a step forward in wearable computing and especially of various types of HUDs, etc, but being the shallow putz that I am, I won't wear it until it's a bit more inconspicuous. Of course if adoption goes nuts, it might be a moot point, but who knows. Even the models look like super attractive people wearing some thing on their face. Then there's this guy: http://whitemenwearinggoogleglass.tumblr.com/image/49192300888 http://whitemenwearinggoogleglass.tumblr.com/image/491923008... That guy's got the whole thing down, though. Full image package right there. That's the bar for me, as far as geek-chic goes with glass.
- goronbjorn 13y ago
  They're in talks with Warby Parker about making more stylish models.
  - doorhammer 13y ago
    Nice. That would be cool. I think the whole package will have to shrink for me to really be on board, but it looks like that would definitely be a step in the right direction, as far as I'm concerned.
    - goronbjorn 13y ago
      If they stay committed to it, it will get a lot better over time, both in terms of functionality and form factor. That's a huge if though.
- turing 13y ago
  Difference of opinion I suppose. I think Glass actually looks pretty cool. Not inconspicuous by any means, but cool.
  - 13y ago
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
yoster 13y ago
Good ol SNL. They haven't been really funny lately, but every once in a while they will come out with something hilarious like this.
taigeair 13y ago
Peacock!
magicalist 13y ago
Discussion on this from a few hours ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5659251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5659251
freejack 13y ago
Gotta love what passes as a story nowadays. I'm glad AllthingsD is so deeply embedded in tech reporting that they caught this gem. Imagine that - SNL did a skit. About something technology related. Really, it was news in 1994 when folks were reporting on cyberspace and the information superhighway. Now? Now its just a bit tedious and sad. Can't wait to see what AllthingsD has to say about the next time Homer Simpson uses a smartphone.
dannyr 13y ago
I like Glass but I find the skit pretty hilarious. It's nice that Google Glass gets the pop culture treatment. IPhone has been featured on SNL several times but never for Android.

40 points by whosbacon 13y ago

zizee 13y ago

"We're sorry, but the clip you selected isn't available from your location. Please select another clip." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMcpWxF9hbI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMcpWxF9hbI

karpathy 13y ago
I only found out After they made me watch their 30 second commercial. Classy.
- akandiah 13y ago
  I'd encourage you to install AdBlock (on FF or Chrome). It should remove those pesky YouTube commercials.
  - raldi 13y ago
    I don't think the experience he's describing happened on YouTube, but rather on NBC's site.
skeletonjelly 13y ago
mirror For the Ctrl-F people like me Edit: And I can't reply to raldi for some reason but Adblock stopped the ad playing on NBC for me.

gkoberger 13y ago

It's too bad Google Glass seems to be going the way of Segways and Bluetooth headsets -- great inventions that everyone is too embarrassed to be seen with.

d23 13y ago
Hopefully if/when the technology gets small enough to resemble sunglasses or eyeglasses that will change. Bluetooth headsets never had a chance since they didn't resemble anything non-dorky.
gosu 13y ago
Why does the Segway qualify as a great invention? I had always thought of it as worse in every way compared to a bicycle or scooter for able-bodied people.
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  Segways aren’t particularly useful but their balancing system is pretty nifty: http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/civil/ginger1.htm http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/civil/ginger1.h...
  - amalcon 13y ago
    The iBot (the wheelchair using the same technology) was a great invention. The main problem with it was that it was too expensive.
- conroe64 13y ago
  You don't need to worry about parking your segway outside the place your going to if you enter the building with it. So, opposed to using a bicycle or scooter, someone stealing it while you're away is not an issue. It's upright, so you can be seen crossing the street by motorists, which gives it an advantage over a motorized wheel chair. It saves energy compared to driving a car and it's use would greatly reduce traffic where cars are normally used.
Avshalom 13y ago
Segways weren't a great invention that people were embarrassed by. They were an extremely expensive toy that didn't solve anyone's problems and were bulky enough that they made new problems when people tried to use them. Bluetooth headsets... are still being used frequently? They haven't seemed to go any particular way.

adamisen 13y ago

Eat up Martha, or how Google may learn a hard lesson of the 90s. You only get one shot at a first impression.

acchow 13y ago
Do you mean that users of glass risk ruining their first impressions with other people? Or that the company that introduces glass (like the introducer of the Segway) risks its first impression to the people? (Because, Google hardly needs a "first" impression)
- adamisen 13y ago
  If the first public impression is that Glass is awkward and half-baked it will be very difficult for Google to generate mass market appeal. It happened with the Newton, famously mocked on The Simpsons. Apple refined the hell out of the iPhone before making any public statements. That seems to have worked quite well. Better than the Newton launch did anyhow.

tvon 13y ago

SNL parodies everything. I suspect they did some iPhones in their time and that thing is still flying off the shelves.

jimbokun 13y ago
iPod invisa. http://www.maxmouth.com/view_video.php?viewkey=f4cc0ad3819a36752467 http://www.maxmouth.com/view_video.php?viewkey=f4cc0ad3819a3...

supercanuck 13y ago

I think the decision to let app developers and other software folks be the first to wear these in public is going to come back to haunt them from a marketing perspective since these sort of people will be the ones people will see wearing them in public first

kailuowang 13y ago
I think Google will pursue a smart enough strategy when it comes to marketing this device. The fact that they are working with fashion shows and Warby Parker is a good indicator. That being said, I think the philosophy behind the product development of Google Glass (and most other Google products) is to to focus on being competitive in features, then the marketing is the icing on the cake. From that point of view, having developers trying them first so that great ideas can be implemented before the mass market makes more sense.
- mratzloff 13y ago
  Google is great at producing technology. But most people don't want technology; they want products. Google is pretty clueless when it comes to making products.[1] The fact that they are working with fashion shows and Warby Parker is a good indicator. It's a good indicator that design is an afterthought to them. Which is more likely? a) Google approached the company at the beginning of the project and worked with them throughout the process. b) Google approached the company toward the end of the project, after the technical components were done. Given the outcome and Google's track record, I'd say B is more likely. That being said, I think the philosophy behind the product development of Google Glass (and most other Google products) is to to focus on being competitive in features, then the marketing is the icing on the cake. Competitive with what? Smartphones? No one will buy Google Glass as a replacement for a smartphone. Marketing is everything for a product like this. From that point of view, having developers trying them first so that great ideas can be implemented before the mass market makes more sense. Google is doing this because they see developers (gadget geeks) as their evangelizers. They're replaying the Gmail strategy. But Gmail doesn't make you look like a guy with a cell phone clipped to his belt. [1] There are some exceptions, like Google Maps and Google Now.

mladenkovacevic 13y ago

I hate to sound condescending or preachy (unavoidable), but small minds will look at anything new with a sense of derision and in particular with regards to how foreign that thing seems directly to them as a vapid consumer. They will not be able to engage their sense of empathy and imagine the possibilities where that new thing might actually benefit someone in a really meaningful way. Bigger minds will look at new things not as a product or the "next thing all the cool people gotta have" but an opportunity to better ourselves, and our relationships with each other. [Too long;Skipped the preachyness]: Those who don't create, critique. But then someone's gotta keep people entertained too.

ilink 13y ago
Pretty sure you missed the point of the /comedy/...
- mladenkovacevic 13y ago
  Well I did laugh so I can't have missed by that much :)
michaelwww 13y ago
> but an opportunity to better ourselves, and our relationships with each other. or an opportunity to worsen ourselves, and our relationships with each other. Why would you assume critics are small minded?
jimbokun 13y ago
"They will not be able to engage their sense of empathy and imagine the possibilities where that new thing might actually benefit someone in a really meaningful way." "Bigger minds will look at new things not as a product or the "next thing all the cool people gotta have" but an opportunity to better ourselves, and our relationships with each other." Are you seriously invoking empathy and "better relationships with each other", in defending something explicitly designed to distract us even more than we already are from the people around us? And can you elaborate on how Google Glass will benefit us in a "really meaningful" way? As this comedy sketch drives home, if the value proposition is for Google Glass to be less distracting from human interaction, that's a pretty self-evidently farcical position. If there's Google Glass between you and the person you are talking to, you have every reason to believe you are not receiving their full attention. At least with a phone you have to pull out to look at, there is some kind of social signal that you are paying attention to something else right now. I'm sure there are good use cases for Glass I just haven't seen yet, where it can provide a better UI experience than a phone. The ones I've read so far, however, sound awful. Getting spammed with advertisements walking down the street? Getting background on that person you are talking to who's name slipped your memory seems like a nice thing. But I think it just sets a new baseline, where remembering your name doesn't indicate any human connection, as you assume the Glass wearer just Googled you and got a heads up display on how to steer the conversation. So I really do believe there will eventually be some positive use cases for technology like Glass. What this comedy sketch shows is that most of the use cases proposed so far are not it.

capkutay 13y ago

Will glass have any way to indicate to others that you're recording a video or taking pictures? If not, I would always feel a little uncomfortable with someone wearing glass present in the room...

ben1040 13y ago
You're either pressing a capture button on the device, or using a voice command to take a picture or video. So it's designed to send a social signal to others that you're doing it. When a video is being recorded, the image appears in the screen. If you're at face-to-face speaking range or a little further away, it's actually not that difficult to see in the image in the display. And even further off you can see what looks like the screen being lit up.

waltz 13y ago

This is just marketing. This will spark conversations by providing arguments that are easy to refute.

doorhammer 13y ago

Warning: IANA-Designer At the risk of sounding like a small-minded narcissist (I'd like to think I'm a moderately minded narcissist) and being that guy, I really can't get over just how awful glass looks aesthetically, especially with the going-out-to-the-shooting-range sunglasses. I'm pretty excited about it as a step forward in wearable computing and especially of various types of HUDs, etc, but being the shallow putz that I am, I won't wear it until it's a bit more inconspicuous. Of course if adoption goes nuts, it might be a moot point, but who knows. Even the models look like super attractive people wearing some thing on their face. Then there's this guy: http://whitemenwearinggoogleglass.tumblr.com/image/49192300888 http://whitemenwearinggoogleglass.tumblr.com/image/491923008... That guy's got the whole thing down, though. Full image package right there. That's the bar for me, as far as geek-chic goes with glass.

goronbjorn 13y ago
They're in talks with Warby Parker about making more stylish models.
- doorhammer 13y ago
  Nice. That would be cool. I think the whole package will have to shrink for me to really be on board, but it looks like that would definitely be a step in the right direction, as far as I'm concerned.
  - goronbjorn 13y ago
    If they stay committed to it, it will get a lot better over time, both in terms of functionality and form factor. That's a huge if though.
turing 13y ago
Difference of opinion I suppose. I think Glass actually looks pretty cool. Not inconspicuous by any means, but cool.
- 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

yoster 13y ago

Good ol SNL. They haven't been really funny lately, but every once in a while they will come out with something hilarious like this.

taigeair 13y ago

Peacock!

magicalist 13y ago

Discussion on this from a few hours ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5659251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5659251

freejack 13y ago

Gotta love what passes as a story nowadays. I'm glad AllthingsD is so deeply embedded in tech reporting that they caught this gem. Imagine that - SNL did a skit. About something technology related. Really, it was news in 1994 when folks were reporting on cyberspace and the information superhighway. Now? Now its just a bit tedious and sad. Can't wait to see what AllthingsD has to say about the next time Homer Simpson uses a smartphone.

dannyr 13y ago

I like Glass but I find the skit pretty hilarious. It's nice that Google Glass gets the pop culture treatment. IPhone has been featured on SNL several times but never for Android.