Bars Line Up to Ban Google Glasses

[Brett_Tabke]

A bar bans high-tech glasses to protect the privacy of its patrons even though the glasses aren't even available yet. Google Glass, not Glasses, are currently in development, but a low-end bar in Seattle, Wash. has formally announced their intention to prohibit the product from its establishment via a notice on their Facebook page, according to a Mar. 8, 2013 report by mynorthwest.com.

The Facebook warning reads, "For the record, The 5 Point is the first Seattle business to ban in advance Google Glasses [sic]. And [butt] kickings will be encouraged for violators." [examiner.com...]

Related:
[youtube.com...]

[Strapworks]

I have mixed feelings.
While I think it would be cool to have information fed to you as you look (a digital guide of sorts) and the ability to record/film things as they happen, I also have those worries about what is recorded and how that is used without my knowledge.
Obviously you can be recorded at almost any time without knowing it, but with this it really seems more of a "hidden" CCTV at times.
I also have that worry that the farther we go with this technology the more we are losing touch with the world around us. How much time do kids these days actually look at their surroundings or listen to a bird chirping? If all of a sudden you have absolutely no reason to physically connect to your world, will you?
Wasn't there a movie recently with Bruce Willis where everyone just stayed at home and used a robot body to interact with the world, effectively "keeping them safe" but not actually living life.
Hmmm......

[lucy24]

a heads up display that can help your navigate your car

When it gets to the point where people are saying-- apparently in all seriousness-- that dividing your visual attention between the road and something else can make you a safer driver...

I'm outta here.

[seoskunk]

I think that old adage of never punching a man with glasses on is about to be put to a whole new test

[incrediBILL]

kids these days actually look at their surroundings or listen to a bird chirping? I

Kids might actually spend more time doing such things and it could be easily educational as Google Glass could even identify the bird chirping and show you some information about it and locate it on the screen. I'm thinking a nature hike even takes on a whole new meaning when a heads up display can start doing things like identifying the flora and fauna, tell you those berries are poison and so are those poison oak leaves.

Just walking down the street you might opt yo get local historical data ti educate yourself about the area and of course as you walk by Star Bucks you'll probably get a time limited coupon to come get a cup of coffee.

I don't like coffee.

I'd probably throw the glasses away about then.

Well, you would not have trouble recognizing me, because I would be the guy wearing a paper bag.

Hardly a problem. I'd just grab a marker and write your name on that bag.

[moxie]

Never owned a smartphone/cell phone; never will. Those devices are causing more accidents than drunk drivers. Imagine what these glasses will do; just wait and you'll hear about it I'm sure. Sometimes I dread what this world is coming to and wish we could seriously go back a hundred years.

[MarkOly]

How much time do kids these days actually look at their surroundings or listen to a bird chirping?

I was thinking about this the other day. Remember being bored when you were a kid? I mean bat s** bored, where you either had to sit there alone with your thoughts. Or when you were with your friends, there was nothing to do but get in trouble.

Now every second of a kid's life must be filled with stimulus. It's coming in from every direction, at an obscene rate. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out. Will the breakneck flow of information stimulate creativity? Or will the lack of downtime stifle creativity?

[incrediBILL]

Those devices are causing more accidents than drunk drivers

Those devices cause no problems, stupid people cause problems.

I've watched people read books, newspapers, put on makeup and shave in rush house traffic so are you going to blame the books and lipstick or

Quite often these devices even save lives or assist in emergency situations like calling a tow truck from inside a car was when a gasket blew on the engine and smoke started pooring out from under the hood while it was getting washed.
the idiots using them?

I'm kind of handicapped these days and I even put the cell in my pocket when I take the trash out because it's quite a walk in the condo complex and if I were to fall and hurt myself I probably couldn't get up and would need to call for assistance instead of laying there on the cold pavement until someone happens to find me in the parking lot.

Horrible devices.

[bluntforce]

I live in a place where the rubbish doesn't get picked up, you have to take your waste to a central location where it can be processed. Part of that, but not required, is making the effort to separate items that can be recycled from waste.

I can't really process the concept that an emergency situation is smoke pouring from under the hood while getting the car washed.

With that said, if you have a handicap or need/want any kind of assistance while I'm around you, I'll stop what I'm doing and address the more important things.

One world, some people live the concept.

More than once and with different people, I've actually experienced your scenario of a not fully mobile person falling and having issues with getting up. Having a phone works, the additional "features" serve no point.

Perhaps you can define how "glass" will change the ability, or lack thereof, to get off the ground.

[MikeNoLastName]

I think the local PD, FBI, CIA and Secret service will ban them first once they realize people are able to identify undercover ops.

[bhonda]

Ok, I'll bite.

Everything's fine with these things - identifying poisonous berries, navigating you around as you walk, showing you the names of people as you talk to them, recalling conversations - until the morning you sit on the glasses and they break.

All of a sudden, you have no idea who anyone is, what you've spoken to them about, you're lost and can't get anywhere, and you eat berries that will kill you.

Yes, I can see a use in some circumstances, but on the whole, no. This would be a step backwards for civilisation. Why can't we use our brains a bit more? I'm reminded of the human characters in Wall-E, for some reason.

It's the same situation that we apparently have with kids being 'too clean', that they don't get the limited amount of bacteria in what they do/eat that they used to, so that their natural resistance is not built up properly and they get ill really quickly. I'm not a doctor, so I have no idea if this is actually true, but the principle is the same.

[MikeNoLastName]

Well, that is the reason for the "cloud". You just buy a new pair (if you don't carry a spare set already), plug in your ID/PW and pick up where you left off. The scarier part is what happens when Wireless/Cell service cuts out and suddenly everyone freezes in the streets. We already RELY far too much on technology. It's okay to AID us in tasks, but when we forget how to read a map due to GPS' or forget how to hand-write vs texting, or even lose access to our appointments calendar due to a lapse in communication, we're all in a serious mess.

[JohnRoy]

Incredible insights here.

Seems the time is now to invest in anti photo devices.

Incredible technology. Just needs to get smaller and better.

[petapixel.com...]

Anyone on the street shall be able to get themselves a shield.

Technology lovers investing in this micro-unit would probably be successful.

(Until Google acquires them.)

Which incredible technology do you like better, G Glass or Anti G Glass?

[incrediBILL]

Silly technology looking for a CCD would easily be defeated by a reflective filter over the lens or, gasp, using film-based cameras

[edited by: incrediBILL at 10:38 pm (utc) on Mar 12, 2013]

[Clarence]

Introducing Google House View:

Using Google Glass you can view houses and apartment from the inside on Google Map.

[Leosghost]

See , hear, record, upload, parse, distribute, add ads..If only Google Glass could record your thoughts , sensations and emotions ( eventually ) ..thinks Sergey.. Shades ( yes I went there ;) of Brainstorm [en.wikipedia.org]..

[lexipixel]

Here's a FORBES writer with ---

Why I Would Buy Google Glass But Not an iWatch
[forbes.com...]
Check out the slide-show -- yup, everyone looks dorky wearing them, even supermodels.

.. and I'm not sure I'd want "g-Tweets" showing up in my field of vision. I've spent many years grooming my phone call screening and email replying etiquette. How to you say; "Yes, I saw your face a half-inch from my eyeball, read what you wrote, and ignored you in real-time." ?

[moxie]

Therein lies the real problem; the world is becoming so dependent on technology, it feels like we are actually taking two steps backwards; if you can pick up what I'm puttin' down.

incrediBill those people are making stupid choices yes; as if they didn't have enough ways to make stupid choices before. All I was saying is that before it was drunk drivers responsible for the most deaths behind the wheel; that is until those phones came along. Next it may be these glasses that take that top spot.

Only time a cell phone could possibly come in handy with respect to vehicles is if you were stranded in the middle of nowhere in 40 below weather, for example. I'm not denying that would be handy. I myself just have no use for one; opinions vary.

[lexipixel]

This article in New York Times touches on the similar issue of Google Glass surreptitiously collecting "personal information" in the context of the Google Maps camera cars invading people's privacy (now only through the camera lense -- the cars were also sucking up any data they could from unprotected wireless connection as they drove by...

Google Admits Drive-By Data Collection Was Privacy Breach
By DAVID STREITFELD
Published: March 12, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO — Google on Tuesday acknowledged to state officials that it had violated people’s privacy during its Street View mapping project when it casually scooped up passwords, e-mail and other personal information from unsuspecting computer users.
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The agreement paves the way for a major privacy battle over Google Glass, the heavily promoted wearable computer in the form of glasses, Mr. Cleland said. "If you use Google Glass to record a couple whispering to each other in Starbucks, have you violated their privacy?" he asked. "Well, 38 states just said they have a problem with the unauthorized collection of people’s data."

[nytimes.com...]