http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gini-graham-scott/tech-breakthrough-or-priv_b_3360964.html
When I read about the new Google Glass -- the Internet-connected computer screen that you wear like eyeglasses or attach to them -- I was amazed by the new technological possibilities -- and also appalled by the potential for new invasions of privacy as Glass wearers take them everywhere. In fact, new laws are probably being crafted as you read this to respond to Google Glass and its progeny because of the privacy concerns about this new technology.
By now, probably most people have heard about Google Glass, but just in case you haven't, here's a brief recap of what it does. Basically, the Glass is a wearable computer that allows users to take pictures, record videos, send messages, obtain weather forecasts, and get directions -- all without using their hands. It's a little like wearing a very small flash drive above your eyes. These glasses are even available on a headset that comes in five colors -- gray, orange, black, white, and light blue, and they can attach to your glasses, as described on the tech-specs.com blog.
The devices uses voice recognition to take commands and display information you can see through the glass piece, such as when you say: "take a photo". Now there is even a new app, developed by Mike DiGiovanni of Roundarch, which will let you take photos just by blinking your eyes.
Theoretically, the idea behind the new technology, according to its designers, is to "bring technology closer to your senses," so you can "more quickly get information and connect with other people." In other words, by being able to wear your computer, you need to pay less attention to technology. It gets "out of your way when you are not interacting with technology," according to Ian Bogost in an Atlantic article: "Google Zombie: The Glass Wearers of Tomorrow".
But now the blowback to this device is already occurring. For example, skeptics and critics commonly refer to glass wearers by the nickname "Glassholes." And some glassed out wearers are being compared to zombies, who are in a technological haze or hypnotized, as they stare through their glasses, while they go about their daily lives.
My own take on this new technology is to see it from two perspectives: one is considering the possibilities the device raises for new applications -- from snapping photos wherever you go to conducting surveillance to aid the police; the other is recognizing the new nail in the coffin of privacy, which is rapidly dying in the information age onslaught.
First, consider the new applications. The glass device could give a new meaning to seeing videos on the go, if you can stream videos from Netflix, Hulu, or other providers before your eyes.
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