

Am I crazy? Google Glass sucks (At least for now) - diegogomes
http://dttg.tumblr.com/post/26106246495/am-i-crazy-google-glass-sucks-at-least-for-now

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moocow01
I have to agree with this. The skydiving stuff - possibly interesting from a
networking perspective - but from a product perspective... I just don't get
why people ate this up. It honestly felt ridiculous to me.

I'd be more enthused if I felt like they laid out a road map for the product
and talked about why we need this. Why do (normal) consumers want this,
Google? Im not saying they don't I just want to know why Google thinks they do
and what the offering really is going to be. We've seen tech-oriented glasses
in many forms over the years flop... why now and why will people adopt these?
Whats the actual killer features that are going to be worth putting these on?

~~~
trimbo
> I just don't get why people ate this up. It honestly felt ridiculous to me

How about because it's the only gadget demo ever where the experience has not
been entirely insular? When's the last time a gadget product announcement has
not been something happening on a screen? A 24" screen, a 10.1" screen, a 7"
screen. Steve Jobs holds up an iPad and shows what it does on a screen.
Sinofsky shows Windows crashes ... on a screen. Xbox... on a screen. Flicking
games on and off, showing the latest version of iPhoto, whatever.

Glass demo? People actually doing awesome stuff and bringing the entire
audience into it... live, in Hangouts.

Yes, we know this is a demo and not entirely honest. So what. Glass is a
vision product. It's time to break away from being in front of devices,
slouching in a chair or with our neck at a 45-degree downward angle looking at
an iPhone. That's why people are excited.

~~~
moocow01
I understand the point but the product is in fact a screen in a different form
factor just like a phone is a screen that differs in factor from a monitor.

I think what I was trying to elude to is that their skydiving demo could have
been utilized differently to talk about what the product experience will be
like as a user. Instead what we got was streaming video of people skydiving -
not exactly anything eye opening... the actual information I got about the
product was really nothing.

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kstenerud
Not crazy; just jaded.

It's an early prototype for chrissakes. The real devporn comes later. For now,
just sit back and enjoy the show.

FWIW I pre-ordered and can't wait to hack around with this thing.

~~~
calciphus
Exactly my thoughts. If you can't see past the fact that these are early
prototypes of an experimental device, I'm sorry but if you consider yourself
any kind of technologist or visionary, turn in your credentials.

There are three important things about Glass: * It's an HUD w/ a webcam * It's
got some kind of wireless communication * It runs Android

If you don't see how those three things are full of possibilities, that's sad
for you.

"Am I the only one who's not impressed that we only got a man 100 miles up
into the air? It's not like he got to the moon" (OP, 1959)

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dguaraglia
I think that Google is, at this point, doing a simple marketing exercise to
test the concept. Why spend millions in R&D before you even know if people are
interested in the new form factor?

So far, the reaction seems to be mostly positive. By hiring a few stunt guys
and a blimp Google created a lot of hype, got a nice amount of feedback on
that.

Heck, I was suckered by the presentation, even while thinking "I wonder what
they are using the send the image feed, surely not 3G or even LTE... and what
else besides doing Plus group conversations can this do?". I _knew_ it wasn't
revolutionary, but still got excited.

~~~
wallflower
> "I wonder what they are using the send the image feed, surely not 3G or even
> LTE...

They showed today how they had multiple people on the roof with portable
microwave dishes, hand aiming at each individual skydiver, with redundant
backup alternative RF. The first skydiver released smoke to let his tracker
know his position.

~~~
dguaraglia
Yeah, I suspected as much... and even then the video feeds seemed to break a
bit. Can't imagine what it'd look like over 3G (LTE would fare much better I
guess, but there's like 2 places in California where you have LTE coverage)

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bane
I agree, when it's something more than a head mounted camera taking pictures
of things I don't care to take pictures of, or telling me the weather when I
don't care or can obviously tell by looking out a window...then I'll be
interested (maybe).

As many people say, "it's the software stupid", so I'm waiting.

~~~
laserDinosaur
"or telling me the weather when I don't care or can obviously tell by looking
out a window"

Damn right! That's why the Iphone failed. Pffft, who needs to know there is a
storm coming in over the _internet_. Hail coming in? I just check if my knee's
a-shakin!

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majorlazer
Post starts with:

 _I’ve been following every single article, video, or meme mentioning Google
Glass since its first demo video a few months ago. Google promised a lot;
Glasses were meant to be something like “an augmented brain.” It would offer
contextual information, interactivity, quick reference, and much more. And now
I feel betrayed. Why?_

And ends with:

 _We all know that this is a really early prototype and are willing to see
(and buy) something as revolutionary as the iPhone. In the end, the most
intelligent move of the day was releasing the early version of the product
only to developers (with a US$1,500 price tag), to gain the necessary feedback
and try to get things working while surfing on the huge PR wave._

You just answered your own question.

~~~
diegogomes
Well, i know it is a prototype. But a camera attached to a pair of glasses? I
really expected more, even for a preview.

~~~
majorlazer
As did everyone else in the tech community. But I think demoing actual current
functionality of the product is much more important than demoing something
that doesn't work. The way I see it, Google knows that people won't be
shelling out their cash for a camera attached to a pair of classes. They know
that if this project doesn't go anywhere, they will have just made a fool of
themselves by promoting it so heavily. So I am just gonna trust that Google
knows what they are doing and they will blow our minds once the product is
further along in the development cycle. And maybe the project _will_ fail and
won't go anywhere, but I just think it's a bit early for these kinds of blog
posts. Let's wait until an actual product launch.

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phylosopher
You could call it a PR stunt and be right. For me it was inspiring. After
watching the video I fired up trello and put in an idea for our service,
minggler, on how we could leverage Google Glass. No it does not include
extreme sports. Google gets railed so often for doing terrible marketing. They
got this one right. Let them have their win and keep thinking of ways this new
platform can be leveraged. We are.

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chubot
I watched the skydiving demo video and also didn't understand how it was
different than someone with a GoPro camera strapped to their head.

~~~
michaelbuckbee
If you watch the video closely they actually do have GoPros strapped to their
chests, and it looks like they then used the GoPro HD footage to create the
blog post video about the whole thing.

~~~
jiggy2011
And the Gopro logo all over their suits..

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jarin
I know we've all read about the exciting "external brain" aspects of augmented
reality in books like Accelerando, but sheesh guys, we have to start
SOMEWHERE.

If I have to buy 10 pairs of Google Glass to light a fire under Apple,
Qualcomm, and Valve's asses to get the immersive AR glasses I always wanted I
will gladly do so.

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SkyMarshal
It was definitely a far cry from their ultimate vision:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4>

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4as198sGxV
Maybe there is a market in the porn industry? Looks like a winner for shooting
POV videos.

~~~
jarin
Funny enough, my porn client called me about that seconds after he saw that
video.

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drivebyacct2
Since you asked, yes, you are crazy for looking at the video broadcast to the
Hangout and thinking that it's indicative of the UI available on the HUD. Or
that because they didn't show a feature that it's not planned, even for v1.

There have been public mentions and acknowledgements of some of the features
that you call out as missing. You're, plainly, uninformed.

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ascendant
This is not something that's going to market next week. These are prototypes
and it's obviously got some way to go.

