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[Google Glass] Week 1 Mini Review
12 years ago
Week One with Glass
So, just over one week ago,
twile and I flew up to New York and I received my Google Glass unit over in Chelsea Market.
I wanted to give it at least a week before giving out my initial impressions on the device to hopefully curb the “new toy” bias, as well as soften the blow of spending > $2000 between the unit itself and travel costs.
As such, in order to attempt to use it as much as possible, I decided that it would be best to just go “all in” as it were…it really seems like that’s at least the way it’s meant to be used. So I’ve tried to wear it as much as possible (though of course I’ve tried to be considerate…I take the unit off prior to going to the bathroom, and I don’t recall any other places in which it would be deemed inappropriate to wear such a device that could make someone uncomfortable). I’ve worn it at work, at home (providing it doesn’t need charging), out grocery shopping, and when going out to lunch.
Ideally I will continue to give weekly impressions, to see if/how my thoughts adjust over time. To see how new updates and sideloaded software change how I use the device, and to see how my usage develops.
In any case, I would consider any updates over the next month to be nothing more than mini-reviews on what I consider to be a completely prototype product. This is not a consumer-level device (yet), and I’m sure the final shipping version will have vastly different hardware internals and potentially even basic design (not to mention the software is going to change quite often over the next few months). In no way are these ramblings meant to truly review it for all…as with many technology devices, the use case can be completely different from one person to the next.
So before we get any further…for those that don’t wish to read a small text wall…what are my initial thoughts?
It’s pretty darn cool, and actually manages to be useful occasionally, whilst simultaneously making you look somewhat like a dork!
But guess what? I’m married, and…albeit I won’t say I don’t care about my image, I work in IT and it’s somewhat expected of me to look and act like a dork. I’m not trying to impress someone with my fashion sense or anything, but at least it doesn’t look terrible.
At work, so far I’ve been called Borg, Terminator, and Robocop (all in good fun of course), and I definitely don’t mind those small nicknames. It also seems to be the least useful when I’m at work…but of course that’s partially due to my paws always resting on a keyboard of some sorts (let’s face it, mechanical keyboard input is going to be much more private than talking to a device strapped to my face) and actually attempting to work.
However, during lunchtime it’s suddenly infinitely more useful, especially if attempting to go someplace that I’ve never been to…because if there’s one absolutely fantastic feature, it would be the Navigation feature. Yes, it’s really no different than what you get on an Android smartphone, however not having to look at a center console when driving (or looking down when biking or walking) is really, really nice.
Also, it’s finally easy to be able to snap a quick picture or video while driving. I’ve always been the type to try my best not to fumble around with my smartphone while driving (yes, I do use it for my music but I at least have the phone mounted just in my lower peripheral vision, and I don’t have to take my eyes off the road to just swipe to a new song) so to be able to just quickly glance and snap a picture just by uttering a phrase quickly and naturally…it’s nice!
Hardware-wise, I’ll admit I’m still a bit awkward with it. I’m not used to wearing glasses (other than sunglasses) so it’s taken a bit of time to get adjusted…but I’m definitely used to it now. Long periods of time (like when staring at a computer monitor at work) I hardly notice it…until it vibrates against my head to let me know I have a semi-important message to look at.
The lenses that attach to it have definitely proven to be useful as well. The sunglasses attachment is of course useful when outside, and I’ve been actually using the clear lenses when inside a fair bit as well (I do wish I had them on yesterday when I was prepping produce…jalapeno juice to the eye wasn’t the best thing ever). I do wish there were of course a few other styles for both (as I prefer lenses to not be quite so tall…though at least they aren’t aviators!), and albeit I’ve become adept at attaching and removing, it’s somewhat annoying in that I have to take off the unit completely to snap a different lens on…I probably would prefer magnetic attachments (or if I could get transitions from clear to sunglasses!).
As far as what other people are saying…of course the work users completely range between “that’s awesome, can I try?” and “dude, you do know you can’t sell that thing, right?” All work people have liked their quick little tours (for some of the non-technical customers I have, their mind was blown with walking directions and the built in sensors that show actual direction changes).
As for what strangers say outside of work? Well, I will say whenever I’m at a restaurant or any type of food place (especially when at lunch) I get people asking about it. So far I’d say about 40% of the strangers that ask actually know what it is and are legitimately excited (they are the ones that suddenly fire off questions asking as to features and how I’m liking it…they’re enthusiasm is actually quite infectious and nice), and half of the people that ask have absolutely no clue what it is (and the majority of them after a quick explanation also seem quite interested and ask about things like price and release dates). So far I’ve only had one person (a coworker no less) that was most unimpressed, however it was mostly due to the cost (in general he’s never cared for the gratuitousness of technology and money that I spend on things that aren’t necessities, to which I say…that’s what you get for having kids! Jokingly, of course).
Anyway, my initial take on this is, it’s pretty cool so far and I will continue to use it. I was planning on tinkering around with it today, however another project is likely to take precedence so I may need to hold that off until next weekend.
Would I recommend it to the average user, or even the slightly above-average technical user? I won’t answer that yet since I don’t think it’s quite fair. It’s a prototype unit, and who knows what capabilities it will have in 3 or 4 months? I fully expect to recommend the end product…at least to those that think it would be cool!
Well, that’s enough of a ‘quick’ weekly review for me…stay tuned for more updates regarding this from me!
So, just over one week ago,
twile and I flew up to New York and I received my Google Glass unit over in Chelsea Market.I wanted to give it at least a week before giving out my initial impressions on the device to hopefully curb the “new toy” bias, as well as soften the blow of spending > $2000 between the unit itself and travel costs.
As such, in order to attempt to use it as much as possible, I decided that it would be best to just go “all in” as it were…it really seems like that’s at least the way it’s meant to be used. So I’ve tried to wear it as much as possible (though of course I’ve tried to be considerate…I take the unit off prior to going to the bathroom, and I don’t recall any other places in which it would be deemed inappropriate to wear such a device that could make someone uncomfortable). I’ve worn it at work, at home (providing it doesn’t need charging), out grocery shopping, and when going out to lunch.
Ideally I will continue to give weekly impressions, to see if/how my thoughts adjust over time. To see how new updates and sideloaded software change how I use the device, and to see how my usage develops.
In any case, I would consider any updates over the next month to be nothing more than mini-reviews on what I consider to be a completely prototype product. This is not a consumer-level device (yet), and I’m sure the final shipping version will have vastly different hardware internals and potentially even basic design (not to mention the software is going to change quite often over the next few months). In no way are these ramblings meant to truly review it for all…as with many technology devices, the use case can be completely different from one person to the next.
So before we get any further…for those that don’t wish to read a small text wall…what are my initial thoughts?
It’s pretty darn cool, and actually manages to be useful occasionally, whilst simultaneously making you look somewhat like a dork!
But guess what? I’m married, and…albeit I won’t say I don’t care about my image, I work in IT and it’s somewhat expected of me to look and act like a dork. I’m not trying to impress someone with my fashion sense or anything, but at least it doesn’t look terrible.
At work, so far I’ve been called Borg, Terminator, and Robocop (all in good fun of course), and I definitely don’t mind those small nicknames. It also seems to be the least useful when I’m at work…but of course that’s partially due to my paws always resting on a keyboard of some sorts (let’s face it, mechanical keyboard input is going to be much more private than talking to a device strapped to my face) and actually attempting to work.
However, during lunchtime it’s suddenly infinitely more useful, especially if attempting to go someplace that I’ve never been to…because if there’s one absolutely fantastic feature, it would be the Navigation feature. Yes, it’s really no different than what you get on an Android smartphone, however not having to look at a center console when driving (or looking down when biking or walking) is really, really nice.
Also, it’s finally easy to be able to snap a quick picture or video while driving. I’ve always been the type to try my best not to fumble around with my smartphone while driving (yes, I do use it for my music but I at least have the phone mounted just in my lower peripheral vision, and I don’t have to take my eyes off the road to just swipe to a new song) so to be able to just quickly glance and snap a picture just by uttering a phrase quickly and naturally…it’s nice!
Hardware-wise, I’ll admit I’m still a bit awkward with it. I’m not used to wearing glasses (other than sunglasses) so it’s taken a bit of time to get adjusted…but I’m definitely used to it now. Long periods of time (like when staring at a computer monitor at work) I hardly notice it…until it vibrates against my head to let me know I have a semi-important message to look at.
The lenses that attach to it have definitely proven to be useful as well. The sunglasses attachment is of course useful when outside, and I’ve been actually using the clear lenses when inside a fair bit as well (I do wish I had them on yesterday when I was prepping produce…jalapeno juice to the eye wasn’t the best thing ever). I do wish there were of course a few other styles for both (as I prefer lenses to not be quite so tall…though at least they aren’t aviators!), and albeit I’ve become adept at attaching and removing, it’s somewhat annoying in that I have to take off the unit completely to snap a different lens on…I probably would prefer magnetic attachments (or if I could get transitions from clear to sunglasses!).
As far as what other people are saying…of course the work users completely range between “that’s awesome, can I try?” and “dude, you do know you can’t sell that thing, right?” All work people have liked their quick little tours (for some of the non-technical customers I have, their mind was blown with walking directions and the built in sensors that show actual direction changes).
As for what strangers say outside of work? Well, I will say whenever I’m at a restaurant or any type of food place (especially when at lunch) I get people asking about it. So far I’d say about 40% of the strangers that ask actually know what it is and are legitimately excited (they are the ones that suddenly fire off questions asking as to features and how I’m liking it…they’re enthusiasm is actually quite infectious and nice), and half of the people that ask have absolutely no clue what it is (and the majority of them after a quick explanation also seem quite interested and ask about things like price and release dates). So far I’ve only had one person (a coworker no less) that was most unimpressed, however it was mostly due to the cost (in general he’s never cared for the gratuitousness of technology and money that I spend on things that aren’t necessities, to which I say…that’s what you get for having kids! Jokingly, of course).
Anyway, my initial take on this is, it’s pretty cool so far and I will continue to use it. I was planning on tinkering around with it today, however another project is likely to take precedence so I may need to hold that off until next weekend.
Would I recommend it to the average user, or even the slightly above-average technical user? I won’t answer that yet since I don’t think it’s quite fair. It’s a prototype unit, and who knows what capabilities it will have in 3 or 4 months? I fully expect to recommend the end product…at least to those that think it would be cool!
Well, that’s enough of a ‘quick’ weekly review for me…stay tuned for more updates regarding this from me!
I probably won't start any development projects on it for another week or two though, life gets busy. :)
For the Navigation aspect, yes, it's extremely nice to not have to look at your phone...though depending on where you mount your phone in the car it can be done just as well. It's nice when walking around an unfamiliar city though since it has Public Transit, walking, and biking directions in addition to standard car navigation.
I imagine that the lenses are specially made so that the projections appear properly, and that it makes having oddly shaped glass impossible.
Have you heard anything on this front?
Unfortunately while there, we didn't spend too much time...plus it was quite difficult to glean any additional information from the Google Employees. In either case, if I hear anything (or if anything is posted on the Glass Explorer forums), I'll let ya know~
My only worry is that Google won't have some services up to date in the UK in time for the release.
We tend to get and Google service months after the UK.
In particular, up to date maps and indoor maps.
One question! Is Google Goggles available for Glass?
Currently there is no Google Goggles available. I imagine that will be something they'll bake in though all things considering!
Hopefuly their hard at work on an upgraded version. When it was first released the creators said they want it to one day be good enough to recognise a leaf, tell you about the tree and its medicinal properties.
Star trek level stuff right there