Amen! I mean, that's the thing about Glass. I know it has potential for it to do all sorts of cool shit -- it's just that it doesn't do any really cool shit yet.
Certainly it's a significant factor. You wouldn't want it if it looked like a big dick on your forehead, probably.
I was in on the idea of augmented reality before I ever saw a conceptualized Google Glass. Aesthetics is always a factor in a product design, certainly. It's not relevant here. Don't think there won't be at least a few of "that guy/girl" who WANT a justifiable reason to have a dick strapped across their foreheads.
The future is a central "phone" that houses the processing and long-range communications. You'd obviously wear a wristwatch display, glasses display, and possibly bone mic, all integrated via short-range wireless.
If you need a big screen for some reason, you pick up your tablet, and it just integrates with the other components seamlessly. Need more processing power? Sit down at your desk at home, where your desktop powerhouse now becomes part of the little cloud floating around your body.
Precisely this.
As revolutionary this may (or may not) turn out to be, it is still subject to the development cycles and trends of every product before it. Innovation, design challenges, technical issues, software design problems, everything that can get in somethings way.
Any monetary challenge will be addressed by Google so the only real limiters here are time and experience. The more time they spend developing concepts and putting it in the hands of consumers, the better the product will become. Look at the evolution of any product that has come before. It's precisely the same trend.
Right now, we are at the very front of this. It's not going to be 100% smooth and everyone knows it. The only choice seems to be when opportunity (cost in dollars, acceptance into the beta, eventual commercial availability, so forth) meets expectation. For those like Rym and Scott, the time is now. For those like Lou, it's further down the line but they will get there.
I must admit that I smirked during the mini "don't use it whilst driving!" debate knowing that Google has made significant strides in automated vehicles. That's more of a social problem than a technical one. Think of how game changing life would become if all cars drove themselves. Talk about freeing up untold amounts of time for human beings!
Of course Glass is going to be finicky and quirky and no super-useful for the first couple months, but I think those of you hating on Glass are underestimating just how quickly people have been making software for mobile devices. Give it six months, and Glass will probably be (relatively) easily usable; Give it a year (maybe 18 months) and getting glass will be like going from a dumb-phone to a smartphone - two months in and you'll wonder where it's been your whole life. Paying the early adoption costs for Glass will let you watch that happen, and, when all your friends start getting them, you'll be the wise wizard.
Because, really, getting your phone out of your pocket is a pain in the ass. It is. I have a wristwatch, and if you tell me that you don't need a watch because you can reach into your pocket and see the time on your cell phone, I will look at you like you're an idiot, because why the fuck wouldn't you pay the like $35 for a passable watch that will last you seven-odd years (so, $5), and then you can just look at your arm and see the time no matter what.
I'd agree, if you could tell me that in that time, it will have something approaching acceptable voice control for anyone with a non-American accent. I'd be stunned if it did. What precisely is the use of a voice controlled accessory, if it doesn't understand what you're saying?
I've yet to find one that's very good even with an American accent. If you do let me know. I have voice control in both of my cars and use it in neither, and they're both late models and recent implementations of the tech.
Everyone just stop complaining about its limited functionality until the Explorer phase is over. People who have ludicrous amounts of extra money (yes Rym, we love your ludicrous money but it's still ludicrous) will buy it and test it for Google, and it will get better and cooler and more useful.
I still won't pay $1500 for it, but that's because I don't need it and have better things to do with the money. Not because it's not useful.
When I'm all cyborg'd I'll just link to this thread whenever you complain.
Until you're hacked and think you're linking here, but really you're just saying "penis" over and over again.
I would hope I would be the Ghost hacker and not the hackee. At minimum, I would be good enough to have adequate defenses against all except the Laughing Man.
I still won't pay $1500 for it, but that's because I don't need it and have better things to do with the money. Not because it's not useful.
Same here... although I pretty much went in to far more detail as to why I don't need it as of yet.
If it's somewhere around $300 or less or so come September (my birthday) or December (Christmas), I may consider picking it up though as a gift to myself.
So, are you gonna write that software yourself? Glass doesn't do all of that stuff out of the box, after all.
Plus, some of that stuff would probably require some sort of hardware as well, although not necessarily hardware in the Glass unit itself but another auxiliary accessory. Heart rate HUD would require some sort of heart monitor gizmo, the ammo counter for airsoft/paintball may require some sort of interface with the gun (unless it just senses the sound of a round firing off and counts those sounds), and the enhanced vision may require a fancier camera lens and/or fancier image sensor,
Sensors for most of those things already exist. Bluetooth heart monitors and electronic ammo counters already exist. Software and integration is the primary bottleneck.
As for writing it myself, I plan to be heavily involved in the dev community for Glass if I get into the first round. I would start with the presentation software.
Sensors for most of those things already exist. Bluetooth heart monitors and electronic ammo counters already exist. Software and integration is the primary bottleneck.
Didn't say that they didn't exist. Though I felt it was important to note that stuff like that would still need some auxiliary hardware. Glass itself is just an intelligent A/V display/recording device at its core, so provided it has the necessary software to interface with all your accessories, you're good to go once you acquire said accessories.
As for writing it myself, I plan to be heavily involved in the dev community for Glass if I get into the first round. I would start with the presentation software.
Okay, so you're definitely in the dev community then, which is who this $1500 release is aimed for anyway, really. Me, I doubt I'll have the time in the foreseeable future to do significant dev for the thing seeing as how I'll have a new baby to help take care of, so I'll wait until other devs put the features into Glass that I actually care about.
Was just thinking that Google Glass could be pretty helpful in the kitchen w/ recipes and such. If they keep cramming more gadgetry in as things get smaller, I'd love to see an infrared thermometer to read temp of a pan surface or hot oil.
I'd probably be OK with a symmetrical Google Glass where there's all sorts of extra gadgetry on the left ear. It'd be damn near full-on Geordi Laforge.
Give it 5+ years and maybe we'll get full on thermal imaging camera mode, then you'll really feel like a Predator.
Personal note: Having children provides you with less opportunities to be awesome.
But on the flip side, it helps you increase the total number of awesome people in the world by passing on your awesomeness to the next generation. It has its pros and cons.
Is it wrong if I am debating taking out a loan for glass on day oneish?
Define day one. Are you talking about the current #ifihadglass contest? Then probably. If you're talking about day one of general availability some time later this year/early next year, probably then too, but hopefully it'll be much cheaper by then. If it is cheaper, you may not even need the loan. Remember, Google does intend for it to be "priced about the same as a smartphone" when it goes GA.
Is it wrong if I am debating taking out a loan for glass on day oneish?
Define day one. Are you talking about the current #ifihadglass contest? Then probably. If you're talking about day one of general availability some time later this year/early next year, probably then too, but hopefully it'll be much cheaper by then. If it is cheaper, you may not even need the loan. Remember, Google does intend for it to be "priced about the same as a smartphone" when it goes GA.
Doesn't matter the day. Doesn't matter if it's the 10th version of glass. Do not buy things you can not afford. PERIOD. I am able to afford things like Glass now because I have followed this rule for my entire life.
Doesn't matter the day. Doesn't matter if it's the 10th version of glass. Do not buy things you can not afford. PERIOD. I am able to afford things like Glass now because I have followed this rule for my entire life.
I agree with that completely. I follow that rule myself. I was only implying that perhaps when Glass goes GA, it will be affordable to those who can't afford the current $1500 price tag.
Loans are specifically for things that will increase in value or enable you to make more money in the long term, like cars, businesses, essential work equipment. Also, for things you need, like houses, though mortgages are quite different.
Comments
As revolutionary this may (or may not) turn out to be, it is still subject to the development cycles and trends of every product before it. Innovation, design challenges, technical issues, software design problems, everything that can get in somethings way.
Any monetary challenge will be addressed by Google so the only real limiters here are time and experience. The more time they spend developing concepts and putting it in the hands of consumers, the better the product will become. Look at the evolution of any product that has come before. It's precisely the same trend.
Right now, we are at the very front of this. It's not going to be 100% smooth and everyone knows it. The only choice seems to be when opportunity (cost in dollars, acceptance into the beta, eventual commercial availability, so forth) meets expectation. For those like Rym and Scott, the time is now. For those like Lou, it's further down the line but they will get there.
I must admit that I smirked during the mini "don't use it whilst driving!" debate knowing that Google has made significant strides in automated vehicles. That's more of a social problem than a technical one. Think of how game changing life would become if all cars drove themselves. Talk about freeing up untold amounts of time for human beings!
Because, really, getting your phone out of your pocket is a pain in the ass. It is. I have a wristwatch, and if you tell me that you don't need a watch because you can reach into your pocket and see the time on your cell phone, I will look at you like you're an idiot, because why the fuck wouldn't you pay the like $35 for a passable watch that will last you seven-odd years (so, $5), and then you can just look at your arm and see the time no matter what.
I still won't pay $1500 for it, but that's because I don't need it and have better things to do with the money. Not because it's not useful.
If it's somewhere around $300 or less or so come September (my birthday) or December (Christmas), I may consider picking it up though as a gift to myself.
http://geeknightsrym.tumblr.com/post/43982414422/augmented-reality-use-cases
Plus, some of that stuff would probably require some sort of hardware as well, although not necessarily hardware in the Glass unit itself but another auxiliary accessory. Heart rate HUD would require some sort of heart monitor gizmo, the ammo counter for airsoft/paintball may require some sort of interface with the gun (unless it just senses the sound of a round firing off and counts those sounds), and the enhanced vision may require a fancier camera lens and/or fancier image sensor,
As for writing it myself, I plan to be heavily involved in the dev community for Glass if I get into the first round. I would start with the presentation software.
I'd probably be OK with a symmetrical Google Glass where there's all sorts of extra gadgetry on the left ear. It'd be damn near full-on Geordi Laforge.
Give it 5+ years and maybe we'll get full on thermal imaging camera mode, then you'll really feel like a Predator.
Insert obligatory Chris Hansen joke.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/1389
Also, for things you need, like houses, though mortgages are quite different.