[ryandvm]

I dunno, maybe I'm a Luddite but I don't think the tendency to never be disconnected is good for the human psyche. I know that personally my own mental well being tends to suffer if I don't let myself have considerable stretches of time where I'm not consuming any information.

Also, though cool, the video is probably a pretty inaccurate representation of what that tech would actually get used for. It shows some guy getting directions, scheduling events, and meeting friends. Nice enough, but the reality is that, like most mobiles, it's probably more likely to be used for Facebook addiction and sending pointless text messages.

[I guess the answer is "yes", I'm becoming a Luddite.]

[Florin_Andrei]

Daydreaming and "wasting time" are correlated with creativity and insight. There is a tendency these days to trivialize the mind by being permanently preoccupied with little things, like checking the news, checking the social network, checking the email - things that require a narrow, restricted perspective and effectively kill wider thoughts.

This is akin to eating junk food. There is an innate tendency in us to consume this sort of garbage (burgers, email updates), and it seems nourishing and useful in the short term, but over a longer range it may well prove disastrous.

Just like we learned to keep our instincts in check and avoid junk food, we may have to learn to keep the trivia-hungry part of our brains in a leash, and once in a while, or perhaps several times a day, purposefully unplug from the data hive and let the mind soar, roam, wander, or whatever it is that it wants to do.

So, I'd say, the answer is "no", you're not a Luddite, you're pointing out an important issue.

[saulrh]

On the flip side, it'll probably be used for constant Wikipedia lookups and trivializing boring organizational work. Computers streamline memorization and scheduling and my agenda and a thousand other things that would normally disrupt my thought processes and interrupt whatever idea I was having. My computer is an extension of myself, and I am a better human for it, because I can spend more time exerting the consciousness that separates me from every other animal on earth.

[knieveltech]

The potential for this kind of tech so far exceeds what's being shown in the demo it boggles the mind. The demo itself is pretty depressing: it implies all this tech is destined for is to provide a hands-off interface for phone apps.

For an example of real-world uses of AR (that don't involve hipsters or food trucks) check this out: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-10/augmented-r...

[coopdog]

I think the videos main point is that they're bringing it main stream, as a new multiple times a day tech for the average person

No doubt developers will do some amazing things with it when we finally get some practical hardware

[nextparadigms]

Like it or not, that seems to be the trend. People find it harder and harder to live "off the Internet", especially if they've grown up with it. Take it away from them for a couple of days and they will really miss it. There was even a survey asking people for what sum of money will they quit the Internet forever. I don't remember seeing anyone from the interview saying they would take the deal. They just couldn't imagine themselves never using the Internet again.

I guess once you get used to talking with anyone, anywhere in the world, and with so much access to any information you want, anything less seems like isolation.

[pyre]

Our society is moving a lot of things to the Internet. Banishing yourself forever from the Internet means effectively cutting yourself off from that. For example, right now 'no Internet' might not mean 'no TV,' but I could see that being the case in another decade. You can't necessarily say an unwillingness to give up the Internet forever implies that people are addicted to the 'Internet firehose.'

[watty]

These, like smartphones, do not have to be used all the time. There's no reason you can't wear them when you'd like to be connected... you'd be crazy NOT to take them off.

[gbog]

The best souvenir I have of the last month are those fifteen minutes spent with kid, wife and friends resting on a rock inside a forest hill around Beijing: we had no 3g, no network, no thoughts, just thee silence and the soft wind. So yes, having no connection will become a blessing.