How not to be a "Gl*******", a guide by Google

Himanshu Arora

Posts: 902   +7

Google Glass is an interesting piece of wearable technology that holds a lot of promise. But ever since the Glass Explorer program began there's been a number of reports calling out “Glassholes” -- a term used to describe people who do not use the gadget in socially acceptable ways.

Well, it seems like the search giant has finally woken up to the problem, and has come up with an official Do's and Don'ts guide for owners of the high tech eyewear. The move aims to get Google Glass users positively welcomed in general public situations while wearing the technology.

The guide emphasizes on not being creepy or rude if people have questions about the gadget. "Be polite and explain what Glass does and remember, a quick demo can go a long way", reads the website. It further suggests that Glass wearers should develop their own etiquette, and must not break rules in places where cell phones and cameras are not allowed, as the same rules apply to Glass as well.

According to the guide, you should ask for permission before taking photos or videos of others. You shouldn't expect people to ignore you when you are wearing Glass, and if you are worried about any interruptions, just remove them and keep them at a safe place.

The guide comes in the wake of several reports of people being harassed and even banned just for wearing the smart glasses. Most recently, one explorer was asked to leave the Lost Lake Cafe in Seattle after he refused to take his device off, while another one was interrogated by the FBI for wearing the device at a movie theater.

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Step 1) Don't wear it in public.

You're pretty much going to look like a jerk if you have technology between you and the person you're talking to. It makes it look like at any moment you might have something more important to do than talk to a real person. It was the same reason bluetooth headset wearing looked so bad.
 
You can't blame them. It's pretty difficult to take anyone seriously wearing these goofy looking things. Maybe by the time they reach 6th or 7th generation (assuming they get that far) things might be better (maybe some will have discovered you can even equip them with lenses).
 
Step 1) Don't wear it in public.
Unless you're going to a Sci-Fi convention or something. =p

There are plenty of times where bluetooth headsets on other people have given me grief. I never know when they are talking to me or the person in their head, especially when the wearer is making eye contact.... I assume it will be the same if not worse with google glass.
 
Step 1) Don't wear it in public.

You're pretty much going to look like a jerk if you have technology between you and the person you're talking to. It makes it look like at any moment you might have something more important to do than talk to a real person. It was the same reason bluetooth headset wearing looked so bad.

Considering the number of smartphones I've seen in use at bars and restaurants over the past 5 years, I don't think many people care anymore. I predict these things will become a plague if they ever evolve aesthetically.

But there are positives. By wearing Google Glass, people are courteously (albeit unwittingly) informing you that they probably aren't worth your time.
 
Considering the number of smartphones I've seen in use at bars and restaurants over the past 5 years, I don't think many people care anymore. I predict these things will become a plague if they ever evolve aesthetically.
.

I think the wearables are worse than the smartphones. When you're looking at your phone you are giving it your attention and people can see that. Wearing the glasses gives the impression that you're not using your technology, but you're keeping it right there just in case something more interesting than you comes along. I guess you could compare it to leaving your phone on the table in front of you, but that's still not as bad as having it stuck to your face.

The coolest wearable piece of tech I've heard of so far is a ring. You'd never know it was electronic and it can unlock doors via bluetooth and the like.
 
How about if I see you obviously filming me, I tear them off your face and accidentally SMASH them with my fist?

...of course, I'll say how sorry I am if you found it upsetting that I did something without your permission.
 
Well, stand back, I'm going to take an unpopular stance. (This is a new thing for me;)).

Today's proliferation of smart phones with video and still camera capability, can be a menace to the police effectively discharging their duties.

Sometimes, a crack dealer needs the piss beat out of them. There's no place in jail for them, so small time dealers roam the streets with impunity.

So all you need is somebody uploading photos or video to Instagram, converting a menace to society, into a poor downtrodden victim of police brutality.

I figure that it's very easy to sit in a comfortable suburb, and, "Monday morning nightstick", how you could have brought the incident to a more successful and less violent conclusion. And all with no training in law enforcement, and no personal risk or jeopardy.

In every prizefight, the public is rooting for the winner, just in time to switch sides for the guy they're rooting against, as soon as he starts losing. That's a microcosm of public opinion in general.

In any case, if the Google Glass nightmare takes hold on a larger scale, you'll have every glasses wearing nerd and 98 pound wannabe "superhero", paralyzing law enforcement throughout every major city in the US.

Oddly, surveillance cameras seem to do very little in the way of solving vicious murders and muggings, but iPhones and the like, have managed to cast the police in a very bad light. People seem to bask in the light of their own new found notoriety having done so. It's the old "15 minutes of fame", that draws out those closet voyeurs, and they only seem to be there when the police are comfortably between them and the criminals.
 
How not to be a gl*******, well it's very simple: don't buy it.
If you buy it, there's slight chance you'll become a gl*******. By not buying it, it will prevent you become a gl******* :D
 
Not every person had cell phone when they first came out, but now just about everyone has one.
Maybe, once all this technology evolves everybody will be wearing some kind of filming device.
 
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