When Google unveiled Glass, it was to much applause and fanfare. After all it was a relatively new piece of technology and after all the movies we’ve seen involving heads up displays, we could finally be able to get one for ourselves! Unfortunately not everyone feels the same way and while there are some who might feel uncomfortable around people wearing it, there are those who would openly assault a Glass-wearer.
We’ve seen this happen before and it has happened again to reporter Kyle Russell who had his Glass snatched from his face and flung to the ground without any prior provocation. According to Russell, he and his colleague were covering a protest which involved a Google employee who was evicting several tenants after buying a home in an area.
“The aforementioned colleague and I were on our way to the 16th Street BART station when a person put their hand on my face and yelled, “Glass!” In an instant the person was sprinting away, Google Glass in hand.” Russell attempted to give chase but was unable to catch up in time before the person smashed the device onto the ground and ran off.
We suppose it could have been Russell being at the wrong place and wearing the wrong device. After all it could easily be construed that Russell was an ardent support of Google, after all why else would he be wearing their products, right? However at the same time it does seem ridiculous that anyone would assault someone, unprovoked mind you, over a piece of technology.
However this kind of reaction is to be expected. After all a recent poll has revealed that 72% of people would not wear Glass in public and that privacy concerns would hold them back from purchasing it. This probably comes at a bad time especially when Google has announced that for one day only, they would be selling Glass to the public on the 15th of April. While professionals have found Glass to be immensely useful, we guess the general public does not feel the same way.
What do you guys think? Is Google Glass a little ahead of its time, or do people just need to be better educated on what Glass is and what it can do? After all it’s not that much different from someone holding a smartphone and using it to record a video.
Filed in . Read more about Glass, Google and Wearable Tech.