Thanks to my friend Scott on Facebook who extended me the invitation to buy Google Glass.
It needs internet, so if I’m not at home or office I’m using my mifi. It works in conjunction with the MyGlass app on my Android phone. The battery life on my mifi could be better. The batter life on my phone could be better. And the battery life on Google Glass itself could be better. Plus that’s a lot of device juggling.
It’s also not the easiest to store. It doesn’t fold up like glasses in a nice compact case, and I worry about squishing it in my laptop bag.
The controls are awkward and non-intuitive although I learn them quickly enough I guess. I just found figuring out all the taps and swipes and head movements strange, I would do the wrong ones all the time; that’s more a limitation on my motor skills than the device itself.
The voice recognition works really really well. It takes photos quickly, if I’m wearing Google Glass I can get a photo done much more quickly than grabbing my phone and swiping to the camera app and shooting from that.
That this thing exists at all is amazing. This isn’t just an email wristwatch, it’s an amazing piece of technology and telling it where I want to go and in seconds having amazing turn by turn walking maps, asking it questions and having it give me the right answers, it’s an incredible advance.
And yet it’s not that functional compared the other devices I use on a daily basis. And it’s more expensive than they are, too. There are only a handful of apps for it as well.
Ultimately I’m impressed by the technology, I’m in awe even, but I don’t need it and I’m not sure how to really make use of it – so I think I’m going to return it.
I bet that in a couple of years I’ll be buying one again — that’s more advanced, with more software, and at a much lower price.
Have you tried one? Do you want to?
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No interest at this time. I don’t need something more in my life to lose or break. They would have to get very inexpensive for me to have any interest. Much cheaper than a phone. Something where I wouldn’t care if it got lost or broke because that is the likely scenario.
One comment unrelated to Google Glass… You can eliminate a device and save money in the process by getting rid of your MiFi and adding Mobile Hotspot to your Android phone. Just something to consider…
I spotted Sergey Brin wearing a set this morning at my hotel during brunch . . . small world
Was Sergio Brin cheating on his wife and infringing copyrights at that brunch? Google Glass should be completely banned—-the marketplace, and law, will decide.
Was Sergio Brin cheating on his wife and infringing copyrights at that brunch? Google Glass should be completely banned—-the marketplace, and law, will decide.
Have any invites to share?
@Chas I don’t, sorry!
Do I want one? No. Do I want people around me to link themselves up as audio-video nodes for data-mineable, face-recognition-enabled global surveillance? Hell no. We’re pissed that the NSA rummages through phone records and then say “Here, let me set every minute of my day out on the curb/Cloud for them to sift through”.
Thanks for the info, I was offered a chance by Google to get Glass, was very tempted to do so but I just couldn’t see myself paying $1,500 for it.
I’m a professional nerd and I too took the experience to try Glass. Expensive gamble.
For most things, especially the advertised things, I think it’s pretty meh. Pictures and video and getting updates from my social networks really aren’t all that important, especially given the tradeoff of people staring at you like you’re an android (they aren’t too far off). Convenient, but mostly meh.
From an industrial perspective (my sector), I think these are going to be a hit. Imagine a plumber or a repairman stopping by your house in the near future. Billing, communication with headquarters and even showing how to install something (cable, phone, etc) and troubleshooting will all be taken care of. But that’s not the truly killer application.
As soon as I saw your title to this article, I figured you’d get it, but I suppose I can share what I always tell others: Google Glass is going to be amazing for travel. The things it can already do are a huuuuuge leap forward in terms of international travel.
1.) Translate voice: If you speak, “How do I say, “” in , Glass will display it and play it into your ear. I’m guessing they’re a hop, skip and a jump away from a speaker that lets you play it directly to someone else in a marketplace while you’re haggling over some trinket. Babelfish, anyone?
2.) Translate text: You can use the “Wordlens” app and stare at a sign in any romance or germanic language (french, italian, spanish, portugeuse, german) and it’ll overlay the text in English on the tiny display on glass. Never before have I felt more like I’m in the future.
3.) Guided tours: There are apps that allow you to know contextual location information. Near the Eiffel tower and somehow don’t know it? Glass will tell you. It’ll also tell you other points of interest you never thought you’d know about, but will allow you to discover without it giving you a call. Just a little message in the viewing window.
The key will be international connectivity via SIM card, but I think it could end up saving money on tours and guides. Say what you will about the privacy stuff or the battery life (which I agree with), but Glass is really a killer app for traveling. I mean, most people already look silly when poking around another country, why not strap something silly to your face and try and interact with the locals? 🙂
~Chris
If I had known you were interested, I would’ve invited you for a Glass demo @ the SF office!
I’d want one. Have any invites to share?
@Noah – that would have been cool !
@Chris I agree that this may become a killer app in that way, it just isn’t yet IMHO