Wearable Tech: Rest in Peace, Google Glass: 2012-2014

I did enjoy the opportunity to play with Google Glass briefly, and can imagine certain instances (for instance, while crawling through the real Colossal Cave in Kentucky) when having a hands-free recording device would have been really handy. The social questions raised by Google Glass won’t go away; in the near future, when this sort of technology can fit in the frame of a conventional pair of glasses or in a contact lens, we’ll still have to deal with the social consequences of people being Glass-holes.

The users who didn’t realize that it was rude to wear these info-glasses must have found out soon enough when they’d hear complaints from people on the street, or worse, the ultra-expense Glass was grabbed off their face. I simply wouldn’t talk to anyone wearing Google Glass until they took them off. There was nothing confidential or personal that could be discussed with anyone wearing the device. You’d be foolish not to assume the conversation was being recorded. You may as well pull out an HD video camera and start recording when you were chatting. It was an imposition.

I’ve wondered if there would ever be a time where Google Glass and other “smart glasses” are going to be generally acceptable to the public-at-large. With security cameras everywhere combined with unapologetic government surveillance of law-abiding citizens, adding Glass is just too much. They turned out to be a straw the broke the back of the privacy camel’s back. With news of people wearing Glass being assaulted the product was doomed. –John C. Dvorak, Wearable Tech: Rest in Peace, Google Glass: 2012-2014.