Google Glass
I was recently in San Jose and while in an Irish pub I met a woman who said she worked for Google (I had no reason to think otherwise). She was wearing Google Glass. Fascinated, I probably spent too long badgering her with questions and begging to try them. (She wouldn't let me. I don't blame her, I wouldn't have let me either.) Nevertheless, she was able to show me what she was seeing via a connection the glasses had to her Droid phone. Pretty cool stuff.
But it got me wondering if I would actually wear them if I could get them and if they resembled affordable. I don't think I would.
While we've become accustomed to having the world at our fingertips through mobile devices, we've also become, as a society, a little bit rude in that we will whip out our phones and live our social lives online while in the presence of real, live people! Crazy.
But more importantly, while Glass allows you to have constant access, I believe it to be a red herring. That is, while it appears that Google is offering the world to you, it is actually the opposite. You are offering yourself to the world. The world of Google, that is.
Think about it. While you are looking up, say, the menu of the restaurant you are standing outside of, Google will now know whether you like (or are in the mood for) that particular cuisine by using GPS to know whether you went inside, whether can afford the price, what items on the menu you spent the most time looking at, and ultimately, what you decided to eat. Google will be collecting your every move in exchange for instant information. Paranoid? Perhaps, but I think Google's real intent is to feed their core business of gathering marketable information.
Google Glass, Part 2, and the Loon Project
Google is currently doing a pilot test where they propose to give Internet access to the millions that do not have it, and they are doing it with solar-powered balloons. Certainly an interesting idea.
I really want to believe this is at least partly altruistic, where they really do want to share the wealth of information (and cute cat videos) on the Internet, knowing full well that, if successful, this will also be good for their bottom line. Hey, I'm ok with them making a buck, and I'm more than ok with the humanitarian desire to enlighten the world.
Obviously Loon is wrought with challenges, not the least of which is whether certain countries will shoot their balloons out of the sky. It will be interesting to see how this progresses. For more info on Loon, go to http://www.google.com/loon/
So, how does Loon have anything to do with Glass? Technically, it doesn't really, other than the fact that they offered photographer Trey Ratcliff a chance to chronicle the story in pictures. While shooting stills, he was also wearing Google Glass which captured surprisingly extraordinary video. And, as always, Mr. Ratcliff's photos are truly fantastic. To see the video and pictures, go to http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2013/06/14/google-internet-balloons/
