A Hotelier’s review of Google Glass, one month on….. so far? Pretty good, but too utilitarian to proffer forth overly giddy testimony.

I have been using them for about a month. Brilliant, an evolutionary step in how we use communication tools, but far, *FAR* too limited to be anything but pragmatic, therefore becoming incredibly task oriented and utilitarian – highly useful for specific jobs/tasks.  There is virtually nothing written for this yet, and it doesn’t offer much control of the experience. They are also having “community” issues, in that I can’t find the place where everyone is talking about them on the glass site – so there are a few startup flaws/bugs to work out on the community side, as well. I can’t get a few things to stop showing up in my “left” feed – like sports or stock scores.  The form factor, for the 1st gen, is simply unreal – durable, seemingly indestructible, and simple to orient and mold to your face. I forget I am wearing them, all the time (until someone points or makes fun).  They are quite elegant, as for the physical aspect of it.

Down the road: It might be interesting for gaming: creating urban boardgames.  It’s no Oculus Rift, but it does overlay a very pertinent augmented reality layer onto your field of vision & eyeballs.  It isn’t interrupting the field of vision, which is awesome because the whole point of these is to move past the interruptive nature of holding a cell phone up between you and the person in front of you…. eye contact is vital, this solves that issue, and it’s the 100% amazing aspect of this. It is why it’s “the next step”. Cell phones aren’t just interruptive, they are completely idiotic. We look like morons, craning are nexts, oblivious to the love of our life walking down the street, or the car careening out of control that will shortly snuff out our “glasslight”.

 

So it will be very fun to see how designers for games and multimedia / film experiences will mess with this technology. I have seen that Google is encouraging people to make films, etc.  This feels a bit like that old film “Strange Days”, in fact…. it’s the same- we’re at the threshold of a new reality, and we’re chomping at the bits… but the road has only been slightly paved a few feet ahead of us.

 

 

YES… it is an amazing computer on your face, that is basically a heads up display- let’s you know if you got a text, email, etc. But it doesn’t really “do” much.  There is one easter egg in the licenses part of the toolbox, where you can see a photosynth full 360 degree view of the Glass team in a room, which is a cool way to relate some of the potential to my other friends…. but there isn’t much past that.  This tool isn’t meant to be hip, certainly not flashy, and it’s really just getting your cell phone onto your face, without all the other distractions (yet).

 

 

The beta run of these have some minor flaws – the microphone needs an ear bud, because it’s really hard to use anywhere other than a dead silent space. Noisy car or windy hillside doesn’t work so much, to say the least. This does work in conjunction with other bluetooth surround modules, like the LG HBS-700. That’s lovely.  The battery life is wonky – I unplug it at “fully charged”, and in 2 seconds it’s at 94% (that’s a *LITERAL* two seconds), but it usually lasts a full day for me.  The videoconferencing while not on wifi is dodgy, but pretty cool. If you are driving, it’s pretty much dangerously distracting.

 

 

Their form factor is solid, with the maui jim sunglass lenses being perfect at making the “look at me” aspect disappear.  They are nearly invisible, with or without the lenses, and it is VERY VERY rare that anyone notices them at all. That’s my speed…. however, when people do notice, it’s just crazy. People want to try them on, or simply make fun.  You get all types of reactions, and I am certainly not the type wearing these to be seen, out and about.  In fact, I just can’t imagine that being useful, really. I usually know where I am going, and I usually like the momentary silence that accompanies not being overly connected to the minutia of my every day personal or business life.  If you can get your 10 (only 10) main google contacts to really start using Google Plus and interacting with you, they could be much more useful.  For now, I am basically posting pics that people will see when they check their G+ account in a few months.

 

 

I wish I could be less measured, and more giddily effusive about these – but we’re simply at the threshold of a new reality, and we’re just being invited in.  These will be revolutionary, and until then, they are utilitarian, or otherwise pretty neat.

NB: The one photo I posted of myself in glass, a nauseating “selfie” that included my HBS700 stereo-bluetooth headset, was meant to be self-referential, and sort of a joke…. I have seen those profile avatars of people in their glass, and think it’s simply hokey as all get out. But my tweet, *since deleted*, was about Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash (speaking of avatars), and the fact that if I wasn’t a gargoyle, they didn’t exist. That fact remains true… we are in the age of gargoyles. We are them. But the picture was *so* nauseating, I couldn’t allow it on my stream, just in case someone thought it was a literal selfie (especially if they hadn’t read Snowcrash). So present it here, with the previous justifications….. this was meant as a self-referential joke. It might play better here. =)

 

This isn’t a selfie. This is a joke about Neil Stephenson’s Snowcrash.