[randallsquared]

> insightful quote: "I can only imagine my morning commute on the bus, with 15 different people talking to the screen on their head just trying to check email."

So, low-quality earbuds are the problem, here, right? I mean, you're talking about listening to other people talking softly on public transportation, and you say the conversation is the problem? Do you similarly hate people who use cellphones or talk with friends on the bus? Should every bus and train be all quiet car, all the time? :)

It's funny: I haven't seen a lot of objections to Glass based on how poorly it seems likely to work[1] (which, you know, I'm hopeful, but wearables haven't caught on, yet...). Instead, objections seem to focus on two aspects:

1. Oh, noes, people can snoop on me! Well, first, they already could, and second, there's literally nothing that can be done except to make sousveillance tech illegal, which will ensure that we only have surveillance.

2. Oh, noes, I can snoop on people! That's an objection that the article seems to be making, here. I have a solution: don't pay attention.

[1] Well, Nick says "impractical", but I didn't see any examples of that unless fashion faux pas are impractical.

[pezz]

If you can't see the difference between someone holding a largish device (say, a phone), point it at you and record a video (hence, obviously snooping) versus same said person closing their eyes, pretending they're sleeping, having their head tilted in your direction and recording a video...

Then yeah, I guess you're the kind of creep this product might appeal to.

[randallsquared]

Actually, what I want is everything logged that I could have seen or heard, had I been paying attention.

I want to be trying to remember what someone said to me while I was distracted by a road sign, and be able to pull up audio or video of that moment by reference to the distracting sign ("triangular blue sign") by doing a video search via voice input.

I want to have every moment of every day in my life available via search or just for browsing, so that I don't have the experience, day after day, of thinking, "Wow, I wish I'd captured that moment by taking a pic or a video that I could send to my loved ones".

I want to have my systems constantly tag my ongoing conversations with wikipedia lookups so that I can stop pointless debates and move on. And I want other people to have this, too, so that I don't have to convince them.

I want to have systems that deliver on the promise that smartphones had, but which are thwarted by slow wake-up times, bad connections, difficulty of use while driving, low battery lives, etc.

The fact is that we're currently losing almost our whole lives because our current recording technology, human memory, sucks so much. I don't want to forget things. Ever. Again.

[pezz]

* Most of your life is not fun

* The good times are real easy to remember

* Your loved ones don't want every piece of your daily minutiae, really, they don't

* Pointless debates are some of the most hilarious conversations you can have

* Technology will get better

* You never forget the best times, the rest is unimportant

[randallsquared]

> Most of your life is not fun

> Your loved ones don't want every piece of your daily minutiae, really, they don't

I'm not sure what to say to this. Try to have more fun? :)

> Technology will get better

I'm counting on it! But Glass is not the final attempt to do this -- it's one of the first attempts. Within ten years, absent political dystopia, there will be no way to tell if the person you're having a conversation with is lifelogging.

> You never forget the best times, the rest is unimportant

Empirically untrue, sadly. From reminiscing with friends, it's clear that both they and I have forgotten some of the best times, since I remember some of the best times and have forgotten others, and vice versa. I can remember that I had quite a bit of fun during the late eighties, but the vast majority of the detail is gone. When I've written down decade-old memories and looked at them a decade after that, it really, really often happens that I'm disturbed at how differently I remembered that event when I was halfway closer to it than now. Human memory is so sketchy and malleable that it's just barely useful at all. :(

[egeekuk]

Unfortunately some of us have terrible memories, and are really important events, such first memories with our children are fading only a few years later.

Having technology that captures this automatically for me is huge! I'd love to have it recording all the time, and to spend a little time each day highlighting the fun bits.

Time with my kids is precious to me, its fun, its good, and I'm sure that both me and them will want to remember them. Having a crap memory sucks, having a piece of technology to do it for me is worth every penny.

[paganel]

> I don't want to forget things. Ever. Again.

Not strictly technology-related, but certainly human related, you might want to read Albert Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past". You might develop a new perspective on "remembering things" and memory after reading the book, a perspective not limited to technology or fancy gadgets but instead one that touches on our very essence as human beings.

[bergie]

There have been covert cameras available for creeps for a long time. And these are a lot less noticeable than Glass... http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/f03a/

[pezz]

Don't agree with those either, but when given the choice to object, I'll object.

Just like I will when some stranger is pointing a mobile phone at me.

Just because it's Glass, assuming I even notice it, I won't clam up and simply think "oh well, because it's ubiquitous and cool, I'll ignore it".

[iamben]

They don't have an internet connection, though.

[bergie]

Yep, the 3G hardware (especially the battery) is still to big to fit such devices, which is probably why Glass also will just tether to your smartphone.

But "spy cameras" with internet connection certainly exist already: http://www.3gspycams.com/3g-spy-cameras

[calinet6]

I don't know where you're from, but around here, no one talks softly on public transportation except the crazies.

[randallsquared]

Heh. :) Most days, I take the VRE or Amtrak into DC to work, and there's always someone talking on their phone, or to their friend in the seat next to them, or to the conductor. Except, mostly, on the Quiet Car.

[rtpg]

I hate people who talk on their cellphone on a bus, as well as people who yell with their friends too loudly on a bus.

Concerning your "snooping" point... it lowers the barrier to entry. Sure, people can always take a picture of you, but if they can do it in a discreet way, there's less incentive for them to have the common courtesy to ask.

[paganel]

> Do you similarly hate people who use cellphones or talk with friends on the bus?

Yes, I do hate them, and I thought the common perception was that everyone hates people that talk on the phone when using public transport.

[mistercow]

>but wearables haven't caught on, yet...). Instead, objections seem to focus on two aspects:

They have somewhat. I still see a lot of people with those ridiculous bluetooth cyborg ear things.