“The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.”William Gibson / Author (and originator of the term “cyberspace”)
Google just released an update on their much anticipated Glass project showing more of their "vision" of the future.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/7050489913/in/photostream
This is simultaneously jaw-dropping and terrifying. I have a love / hate relationship with Google. I use (and very much enjoy) many of their services but at the same time they really freak me out with the Big Brother factor. They say “Don’t be Evil” a lot, but most of the time it seems like they’re struggling to just get to “Don’t be Creepy”. We’ll see…
Regardless though, this stuff completely and utterly amazes me. These glasses seem straight out of the many sci-fi movies and novels I've enjoyed over the years. It’s easy to get dulled and blind to the astoundingly powerful devices at our fingertips but I think it’s important to keep some of our sense of wonder at all this.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1uyQZNg2vE]
Apparently, the future is sort of choppy, a little nauseating, has an upbeat soundtrack, and is full of extra data and privacy concerns. But it sure is cool. Sounds about right.
So bravo Google, for pushing ahead and doing something remarkable. Now please don’t be creepy with all this new information you’re going to be collecting and processing.
If you’d like to be part of this new (and very unevenly distributed) future, hustle over to Google’s Glass site and get in line. They’re taking applications to see who gets the privilege of shelling out $1500 to be part of the initial launch. And by the way, you’ll also have to get yourself to San Francisco New York, or Los Angeles to pick them up on launch day. Something like “shipping not included”.