4 ms·

I don't know if the whole idea is dead yet, but it did seem pretty tone-deaf to do luxury party barges as a way to showcase an already hated exclusive product.

by natch 12y ago

bellerocky 12y ago
It was a bizarre idea, in step with the tone-deaf nature of Google's leadership which seems to exhibit traits of megalomania. I like ambitious projects, I like people creating new things, but some of the words that come out people's mouths about creating places in the world to experiment without regulation, and that people's expectations of privacy are wrong, etc. It's just off-putting and some day when some other startup starts eating Google's lunch this barge will come across as the early signal that Google just had too much cash than was good for it.
- skyebook 12y ago
  While not cheap, these likely weren't an extravagant expenditure (probably a few hundred thousand each). This seems like part of the noise of a company trying many different things and cutting their losses when it makes sense. The only real difference is that we don't see many of these other projects because they can fit in a building
  - secstate 12y ago
    From the article, new the barges would have been $4 mil apiece. Even if they got them for a song, that would still put each north of one million, and that's before you buy 64 containers gut them, weld them together and install windows. Not saying this was a big loss for Google, but it wasn't "a few hundred thousand."
- nickpinkston 12y ago
  Au contraire - I think we need more ambitious / divergent projects, and I think with this ambition and divergence comes the likelihood that you're going to piss a lot of people off, and I think that's okay. "creating places in the world to experiment without regulation, and that people's expectations of privacy are wrong, etc." Both of these sound like divergent and large scale, but they don't seem unreasonable. People let the world in front of their eyes convince them of its permanence / correctness - when in reality we need to break some of our cherished beliefs to move forward.
  - locopati 12y ago
    What if we like our cherished beliefs because they work for us and don't really want someone else's beliefs to trump that?
    - eclipxe 12y ago
      You mean like "conserving" your beliefs against "progress". Hmm. Seems like we should invent some sort of political system where we can "conserve" on one end and have "progress" on the other end. They will meet in the middle and get absolutely nothing done. Brilliant!
    - endtime 12y ago
      Then don't move to their seasteading platforms or use/buy products run from them?
      - nickpinkston 12y ago
        ra-men
dm2 12y ago
The barges being focused on Google Glass was just a rumor wasn't it? They could be demoing all Google projects and ventures. Robots, 3D mapping phones, Project Loom, etc.
- roc 12y ago
  And which/how many of those would it take to justify a special trip to a special-purpose building to introduce people to it? Their more-interesting projects would make a particularly-popular exhibition in an interactive museum. And that's about it. e.g. Why would someone want to spend more than 5 minutes on a 3D mapping phone? What would they do with 3D models, aside from playing Interior Decorator in their own living room or Hollywood Makeup Artist on their own face? Those are neat ideas, don't get me wrong. But while more apps may eventually be found, it could hardly justify a specialized gadget for most people as-is. Particularly when traditional mobile device cameras are turning out inferior-but-quite-usable versions of those same apps. Google Glass is similar. There's been a handful of really compelling use cases for HMDs for more than a decade. But the general public has never had more than about a 2-minute-demo-reel level of interest. And Google hasn't found/developed anything in Glass, yet, that changes things for people who already have a magical slab of glass in their pocket, everywhere they go. (Google's actually dug a slightly deeper hole, in that people's 2-minutes-worth of interest in Glass was quickly dominated by how incredibly unsettling connected cameras can be, when they're potentially on anyone, anywhere. Including on the anti- and a-social, in places where people had traditionally let their guard down.)
  - dm2 12y ago
    Depending on how accurate it is the 3D mapping it could be huge. Any object on your desktop to 3D CAD for < $1000. The software would be the most critical factor in that and Google is one of the best at software in the world. Google Glass will be neat around v3 or v4. I want augmented reality, not a portable monitor for notifications only. Some people that require both hands for work and need those critical notifications could really benefit from this though. Sports taking pictures would be useful. Google Glass isn't for everyone, but it's definitely useful to many people. You're right that most developers wouldn't go to the barge, but think about the places that the barges would dock. It could potentially draw some of the more wealthy population to come in and see all the interesting stuff their building. They usually have Apple products (because more expensive is better, right?) so getting them to take interest in some of their other products could be profitable.

I don't know if the whole idea is dead yet, but it did seem pretty tone-deaf to do luxury party barges as a way to showcase an already hated exclusive product.

by natch 12y ago

I don't know if the whole idea is dead yet, but it did seem pretty tone-deaf to do luxury party barges as a way to showcase an already hated exclusive product.

bellerocky 12y ago

It was a bizarre idea, in step with the tone-deaf nature of Google's leadership which seems to exhibit traits of megalomania. I like ambitious projects, I like people creating new things, but some of the words that come out people's mouths about creating places in the world to experiment without regulation, and that people's expectations of privacy are wrong, etc. It's just off-putting and some day when some other startup starts eating Google's lunch this barge will come across as the early signal that Google just had too much cash than was good for it.

skyebook 12y ago
While not cheap, these likely weren't an extravagant expenditure (probably a few hundred thousand each). This seems like part of the noise of a company trying many different things and cutting their losses when it makes sense. The only real difference is that we don't see many of these other projects because they can fit in a building
- secstate 12y ago
  From the article, new the barges would have been $4 mil apiece. Even if they got them for a song, that would still put each north of one million, and that's before you buy 64 containers gut them, weld them together and install windows. Not saying this was a big loss for Google, but it wasn't "a few hundred thousand."
nickpinkston 12y ago
Au contraire - I think we need more ambitious / divergent projects, and I think with this ambition and divergence comes the likelihood that you're going to piss a lot of people off, and I think that's okay. "creating places in the world to experiment without regulation, and that people's expectations of privacy are wrong, etc." Both of these sound like divergent and large scale, but they don't seem unreasonable. People let the world in front of their eyes convince them of its permanence / correctness - when in reality we need to break some of our cherished beliefs to move forward.
- locopati 12y ago
  What if we like our cherished beliefs because they work for us and don't really want someone else's beliefs to trump that?
  - eclipxe 12y ago
    You mean like "conserving" your beliefs against "progress". Hmm. Seems like we should invent some sort of political system where we can "conserve" on one end and have "progress" on the other end. They will meet in the middle and get absolutely nothing done. Brilliant!
  - endtime 12y ago
    Then don't move to their seasteading platforms or use/buy products run from them?
    - nickpinkston 12y ago
      ra-men

dm2 12y ago

The barges being focused on Google Glass was just a rumor wasn't it? They could be demoing all Google projects and ventures. Robots, 3D mapping phones, Project Loom, etc.

roc 12y ago
And which/how many of those would it take to justify a special trip to a special-purpose building to introduce people to it? Their more-interesting projects would make a particularly-popular exhibition in an interactive museum. And that's about it. e.g. Why would someone want to spend more than 5 minutes on a 3D mapping phone? What would they do with 3D models, aside from playing Interior Decorator in their own living room or Hollywood Makeup Artist on their own face? Those are neat ideas, don't get me wrong. But while more apps may eventually be found, it could hardly justify a specialized gadget for most people as-is. Particularly when traditional mobile device cameras are turning out inferior-but-quite-usable versions of those same apps. Google Glass is similar. There's been a handful of really compelling use cases for HMDs for more than a decade. But the general public has never had more than about a 2-minute-demo-reel level of interest. And Google hasn't found/developed anything in Glass, yet, that changes things for people who already have a magical slab of glass in their pocket, everywhere they go. (Google's actually dug a slightly deeper hole, in that people's 2-minutes-worth of interest in Glass was quickly dominated by how incredibly unsettling connected cameras can be, when they're potentially on anyone, anywhere. Including on the anti- and a-social, in places where people had traditionally let their guard down.)
- dm2 12y ago
  Depending on how accurate it is the 3D mapping it could be huge. Any object on your desktop to 3D CAD for < $1000. The software would be the most critical factor in that and Google is one of the best at software in the world. Google Glass will be neat around v3 or v4. I want augmented reality, not a portable monitor for notifications only. Some people that require both hands for work and need those critical notifications could really benefit from this though. Sports taking pictures would be useful. Google Glass isn't for everyone, but it's definitely useful to many people. You're right that most developers wouldn't go to the barge, but think about the places that the barges would dock. It could potentially draw some of the more wealthy population to come in and see all the interesting stuff their building. They usually have Apple products (because more expensive is better, right?) so getting them to take interest in some of their other products could be profitable.