Back in 2014 when Google released the much anticipated ‘Google Glass’ which brought wearable computer screens into reality for the first time, very few were aware of the potential and eventual changes these devices would make to the way we live. Originally listed for sale at $750 they originally competed with the Apple iPhone until google began letting them go for free, with one catch… advertising. Now everywhere you went, and anything you did would potentially trigger an ad targeted directly at your action at that moment. Along with this, google was able to top Apple and Facebook who would trace your location, by recording everything you looked at every moment you were wearing Google Glass. What was already the biggest data mine in the world became incredible.
But in a world where fighter drones were able to be operated from remote desks on home laptops and even children were able to operate their own cyborgs through the power of the internet, geography began to mean less and less. And traditional country and their political systems suffered. Along with the power provided by Google Glass, Google and profited greatly from the downfall of the USA and the west, creating tax havens for their employees whilst allowing them to work independent to their location in their own virtual country. And who was to stop them? Creating a country allowed google to create an army, but while the country may have been based mostly in a virtual world and the army operated by virtual soldiers, it was a very physically real army, operated by an organisation who knew everything about us.
So why didn’t we get rid of the google glasses?
It’s an interesting question, and one that involves social media heavily. Our desire to stay connected to each other at all costs, not to miss anything in our networks and to present the best possible side of ourselves has left humanity slaves to new technologies and offerings from social media organisations. No longer do we come home from holidays with stories for friends. Our friends already know. Catch ups have become discussions about what everyone else is doing, because we already present everything we want friends to know to them in easily digestible social updates. Google glass took this to the next level and was even able to automate these updates for us. What a world…
Alas, there comes a time when any good idea can become too powerful and currently Google have the power and resources to take over the world if they choose to. And what if they do? Is social media independent enough from google’s domination of the internet that a human uprising could be brought about in the style of the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings of a decade ago? As humankind continues to streamline there existence, chasing the perfect meld between reality and virtual reality it may be important not to put all the eggs in one basket, even if it means compatibility issues.
Theses musings, while highly imaginative are based on the realities faced in today’s increasingly digital landscape.
Noff, A 2011, ‘What’s Next In Social Media’, TNW, 14 June, viewed 17 February 2013, <http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/06/14/whats-next-in-social-media/>.
Rebeliouspixels 2012, ‘ADmented Reality - Google Glasses Remixed With Google Ads’, video, Youtube, 5 April, viewed 17 February 2013, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_mRF0rBXIeg>.
Rivington, J 2012, ‘Google Glass: what you need to know’, Techradar, 15 February, viewed 17 February 2013, <http://www.techradar.com/au/news/video/google-glass-what-you-need-to-know-1078114>.
Shirky, C 2009, ‘How Social Media Can Make History’, video, TED, June, viewed 17 February 2013, <http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_can_make_history.html>.
Townes, F 2008, ‘Revealed: Google’s Plan For World Domination, Mashable, 8 December, viewed 17 February 2013, <http://mashable.com/2008/12/07/googles-plan-for-world-domination/>.
Turkle, S 2012, ‘Connected, but alone?’, video, TED, April, 17 February 2013, <http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together.html>.
Wow Matt those glasses actually sound quite scary I particularly would not like to be marketed to every time I looked at something but that's the way social media is headed at the moment every time we press 'like'.
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