In Some San Francisco Bars, Google Glass is Banned
I'm conducting a social experiment, exploring the streets of San Francisco with a pair of Google Glass, the $1,500 dollar wearable computer with a built in camera.
Most people are just curious, but one guy is not happy to see me.
"Google Glasses are about to go in the garbage," he says.
Then he curses. "They're non privacy..they're EXPLETIVE interrupting the world."
The exchange happened in the city's famed Haight Ashbury district.
The same area where resident Sarah Slocum ran into some trouble because she says she was wearing Google Glass.
Inside a bar called Molotovs, Slocum says she turned on the camera when things turned nasty.
"I never experienced any animosity from wearing Google Glass and it completely took me off guard."
The late night confrontation was apparently part of an angry backlash against Silicon Valley employees who some say are driving up rent prices in an already expensive market.
Though Slocum doesn't even work for a technology company, several San Francisco bars, including Molotovs, have now banned the use of Google Glass because of concerns about privacy.
Unlike a smartphone, it's not exactly clear when someone is recording with the new technology.
What do you think about Google Glass? Let us know in the comments below.
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Glass looks stupid, is stupid and I refuse to sit with anyone wearing them. Would you sit with someone who was talking with you while holding their cell cam in front of you?
Not the same thing.
A person holding a phone in front of himself/herself would be absolutely paying attention to the phone, at the cost of doing so to you.
A person wearing Google glass might be giving you his (or her) undivided attention.
Nevertheless, unless he (or she) has a reason to wear them during the conversation, it would seem polite to take them off.
There are security cameras in the bar < or many other places, but by entering I have given my permission to the owner to use the camera. The owner implies he uses it for security purposes. What does the stranger with a "hidden" camera intend to use their records to accomplish. Embarrass me at some future time? maybe worse. I don't give my permission to be recorded by random fools. Wearing Ggggle asses should imply permission to all to punch.
The law in California doesn't require that you give permission to be photographed or video recorded when you are in public. In California you must get permission to record audio of someone. So if someone is recording you with video AND sound then you have to give permission for them to legally record you.
Why not be on your watch or earring or on your shirt instead of an ugly obvious glass like that? Common google you guys could have come up with something much better than that, dont you?
Anyone with G**gle glasses should get their face bashed in. I fully support those people in the bar.
I think its a pretty insightful tech toy. I have had the opportunity to use a pair and to me it has made simple life experiences more easier to share as well as gain more insight information of the places around you. In my opinion, if you are conscious on how you use them around others its not such a big deal. You cant put them on and not expect others to respond in some way. If you stay aware and not try to "show boat" them then its a better more personal experience you can enjoy.