Category Archives: technology

Google Glass: Aren’t we already living in our own private Idahos?

Standard

I admit to being a bit flummoxed by Google Glass.

For those of you who have somehow avoided hearing about it or aren’t quite sure what it is, Google Glass—still officially in testing and available only by invitation—is a wearable computer system for your face. Glasses, to be specific. Glasses that display data like smartphone devices and respond to voice commands.

On the one hand, it sounds like the glasses could have really amazing and important applications, like allowing ER physicians to act almost instantaneously because patients’ vital signs are always within their field of vision or…actually that’s the only proposed application that I could find which actually sounds important.

But you can also take pictures! Or stream the news in your face!

On the other hand, it’s sheer lunacy.

OK, maybe that’s overstating it a bit, but think about it. Sure, tweeting, updating Facebook, posting to Instagram, etc. would be effortless. But eventually your friends will unfriend and unfollow you to escape your life, overexamined:

The Tweets: “Ugh. Alarm just went off. Screw it—I’m hitting snooze” (OK, so maybe you won’t actually sleep in your glasses) or “Score! At CVS—Tampax on sale!”

The Facebook updates: “Finally finished my quarterly report—look at these awesome charts I made!” or “I’m at the appliance store looking for a washer and I can’t decide: should I go for a top or front loader? Because I’d really like to stack the washer and dryer, but top loaders are awfully expensive and what if I need to add a piece of laundry I forgot? Wouldn’t that, like, flood the room? What do you guys think?”

Instagram: Before and after photos of your mowed lawn. Or a close up at the gym of that new (miniscule) muscle definition.

Don’t even get me started about Vine.

And what about the possibility of accidental, embarrassing Tweets? Like, “Dammit! I am out of toilet paper. Why don’t Americans have bidets?!” or “I think I need a mental health day. I better call in now, while my voice is still sleep-scratchy so I sound sick.” (OK, this presupposes that your boss has access to your Twitter feed, but you know…)

Then there are the accidents. You know–pedestrians get hit by cars because they’re too busy listening to music/texting/looking at the Internet to pay attention? With Google glasses they could be looking straight at the car and not see it because of all the stuff in their field of vision. Have you seen those bumper stickers that say, “I Brake for White Canes’’ (As opposed to what? Speeding up?)? They could make ones that say “I break for Google glasses,” but will drivers really be able to tell who is wearing them?

As a pedestrian, I would be a hazard to other pedestrians. And possibly parked cars.

And you know people would totally drive wearing the glasses.

Who knows if Google Glass will become a must have accessory? Technology is developing so fast that it’s hard to imagine what’s next. I’m just creeped out by the vision of a population of over-sharing virtual hermits.

Plus the glasses are hideous.

Why do dogs hate computers?

Standard

My boss dog, Cara Mia, won’t stop barking at me. She hates it when I get on the computer. It starts with a soft grring. Then comes the paw stomping. Finally, the sharp, full-throated “woooof!”


Is she feeling neglected? Perhaps she just wants my undivided attention? 


Here’s the thing. She doesn’t seem to care what I do—as long it’s not on the computer.


Reading a book? Engrossed in TV? Having an animated phone conversation? Meh.


It’s just the computer.

And she’s not the only dog of my acquaintance to feel this way. My beloved, but departed dog, Houdini—who would otherwise sit on the other end of the couch, back turned to me—would suddenly feel the need to interfere if I spent more than a few minutes on the computer. Physically interfere. I once lost an “s” key due to a swipe of the paw. My parents’ dog, Sterling, likes to actually block the keyboard with his body—usually his head. I’ve heard similar tales from friends.

So, I wondered: what is it with dogs and computers? Are they disturbed by the strange, slightly blue glow? Agitated by the almost-imperceptible-but-vaguely-sinister humming? Or are they like little, furry old people—confused and slightly irritated by this newfangled technology?


Perhaps. But I think that there may be deeper issues involved. I recently came across a recent British study that claims that people now rely on their computers far more than their dogs, and that in fact, computers have replaced dogs as man’s best friend.


Think about it—our laptops/iPhones/iPads go everywhere, while our dogs are stuck at home. We buy our gadgets fancy “clothes,” take them to dinner and to bed—what are our dogs supposed to think?

So I guess I owe Cara Mia an apology. Or a computer of her own….

Standard
http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;” >clipped from <a title="http://www.slate.com/id/2177969/” href=”http://www.slate.com/id/2177969/” style=”font-size: 11px;”>www.slate.com

Those’>http://www.slate.com/id/2177969/”&gt;

Those of us older than 25 can’t imagine a life without e-mail. For the Facebook generation, it’s hard to imagine a life of only e-mail, much less a life before it. I can still remember the proud moment in 1996 when I sent my first e-mail from the college computer lab. It felt like sending a postcard from the future. I was getting a glimpse of how the Internet would change everything—nothing could be faster and easier than e-mail.

blog it