#112 / Candid Camera

Here is something new to worry about: total civilian surveillance, all the time. I am talking about the  "Google Glass," the wearable computer that will allow users to be "on" their computer at all times, even as they watch their kids' soccer game, or seduce a co-worker in the break room. This device will permit total time visual surveillance of everyone "seen" by the wearer of the "Glass." Here is a link to an article that discusses the possibilities. 

I must admit that I hadn't thought about this aspect of Google's new and upcoming technology. I have more or less dismissed this device as going beyond my own, personal needs for constant computer contact. I do have that addiction, true, but my cell phone does just fine in satisfying the need, or so it seems to me. 

The article, however, does make a point. 

On the upside, if there had been lots of "Glass" users at the Boston Marathon, who were all recording their experiences, the authorities might have more quickly apprehended the perpetrators of the bombing atrocity. Or, that whole bombing episode might not even have happened. 

The article talks mainly about the "downsides." Query whether we can truly function as human beings if we are under constant surveillance (potential or actual). At the least, this is something to think about as you start having interactions with users of the "Glass." 

The article calls them "Glassholes," by the way.

Image Credit:
http://www.zdnet.com/google-glass-and-the-emerging-glasshole-culture-7000014187/?s_cid=e539&ttag=e539