Through Glass:
Breaking the ice
The latest in our series on living with Google Glass . Jen McEwen is the Chief Marketing Officer of MiKandi.com (NSFW link). You can also find find her on Google+.
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Google glass is awesome and nerdy and clunky and not all that practical — but it's still bringing us together
Google Glass is a device of contradictions. It's intended for communication, but it's hard to talk to someone on it. It captures and shares moments immediately, but getting the shot just right is cumbersome. It connects you with the world, but could alienate you from the people in front of you. But as with all technology, it is what you make it.
First and foremost, Glass is a communications device. As it stands today, I find it's not a very useful one. Exciting, sure. Practical? Not entirely. If you think of mobile as delivering bite-sized content, Glass and other current wearable tech deliver nibbles. So I've found, primarily, Glass is great for text and email notifications. It's good for photos and videos because it makes it faster to capture authentic moments. The trade-off is it's harder to capture those moments perfectly. But I suppose that imperfection is what makes it authentic.
The one-up Glass has over my phone is that it gives me the potential to interact with technology in a much more natural way. No one disagrees that it's an indiscreet device — I'm wearing a bright blue clunky gadget on my face, for Pete's sake. That aside, through Glass I could stay connected with friends and the world passively and immediately. Glass, as most wearable tech, pushes technology out of the way, ultimately making it more useful.
Well, not quite yet. But soon, I hope.
It's just that right now Glass doesn't blend into my everyday life seamlessly, and I suspect a good number of Glass users share my sentiment. It's in its infancy. The point is that it has potential, and that's really exciting to think about. I seem to constantly meet people who are getting their device soon or are working on Glassware. As Glass gains more users and apps, we'll see the device become less of a statement piece and more of a useful application of technology.
It's surprisingly easy to meet someone new when you strap a computer to your face.
In the meantime, it's a fantastic conversation starter and a great way to meet people. If you have any social anxiety, this is not the device for you. But if you're the kind of person who prefers sitting at a bar talking to strangers over sitting in a quiet booth with your group of friends, you'll love Google Glass.
Most of the people I interact with are in awe of the gadget. Walking down a city block wearing it has proven a difficult task to complete, as I find myself stopped often by curious strangers. I'm not complaining — I genuinely love sharing Glass with others. I see no better way to advocate new technology than to encourage people to try it for themselves.
It's ironic that the skeptics say it distances you from the real world. But take a look around — everyone is face down on his or her phone or laptop. We're already ignoring each other. Google Glass breaks the ice. Personally, I've never talked to as many strangers in my life. Sure, initially they're more interested in Glass than they are in the human attached to it, but we eventually find common ground — it's human nature to want to connect. They ask me how I got my paws on it and if I've developed anything for it yet.
Was there ever any doubt that the adult industry would put Google Glass to good use?
"Funny you should ask," I say. "My teammates and I made an adult app for this. We also let a couple of porn stars use it to record an adult video."
"But," I add as they slip it on their amused faces, "I might have forgotten to clean it."
[[ evil laugh ]]
I'm not going to go into too much detail about the social aspects of Glass. I think the previous
Many in the adult industry were skeptical that people would actually enjoy Glass footage. Turns out, they do. Ours was a comedic take on Google Glass porn1, but the commentary from fans indicated that, yes, they do enjoy these new, intimate, real shots.
So even though Glass today is rife with contradictions, often polarizing, and not entirely practical, I'll continue to support it because it pushes the world forward. After all, we're never going to get a United Federation of Planets unless we continue to make lofty leaps in technology.
If nothing else, do it for Geordi La Forge.
1. Here's the technically safe-for-work video on YouTube, but you still might want to wait until you get home. ↩
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"MiKandi is the original adult Android app store."
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