How to Wear Google Glass and Not Be a Glasshole
Google has a list of Do's and Don'ts regarding wearing Glass.
Google has made public an etiquette guide for Glass users on the do's and don'ts of using the upcoming wearable tech. The list stems from advice provided by long-time Explorer wearers, as these people are shaping the Explorer community.
"Our Glass Explorer community, which consists of people from all walks of life, actively participates in shaping the future of Glass. With new technology comes new questions, and our Explorers help to answer those questions," Google's guide explains.
One of the funnier entries says not to be creepy or rude (AKA a “Glasshole"). If other people have a question about Glass, be polite and don't get snappy; a quick demo can go a long way. In situations and places where cell phones should be turned off, do the same with Glass. Being rude will not get businesses and individuals excited about Glass.
"Glass was built for short bursts of information and interactions that allow you to quickly get back to doing the other things you love," reads the guide. "If you find yourself staring off into the prism for long periods of time, you're probably looking pretty weird to the people around you. So don't read War and Peace on Glass. Things like that are better done on bigger screens."
Don't wear Glass and expect to be ignored, the guide reads. If wearing Glass during a romantic meal at a restaurant may bring on questions from other diners, place Glass around your neck or take them off completely. As a personal side note, just take Glass off during a romantic meal anyway. Seeing that camera staring back while eating is just rude.
Some of the "Do's" listed on the guide include exploring the world around you, taking advantage of the Glass voice commands, and asking for permission before taking videos or pictures of withers with the camera. Also use a screen lock.
"If you ever lose your device or have it stolen by a budding online resale entrepreneur, you can turn off Glassware and perform a remote wipe (e.g. factory reset) of the device, removing all your information from the device," reads the guide. "All you need to do is go to your MyGlass page on your browser, or the MyGlass App on your phone."
To read the full list of Do's and Don'ts, head here. Google Glass is expected to go retail sometime this summer.

It's little different to various gizmos portrayed in Hollywood movies
which at the time were regarded as cool, eg. the tech in Minority Report.
Besides, people said the same negative things about mobiles 20 years ago.
Look where we are now. Ditto the Walkman and any number of clothing
styles when they first appeared.
Fashions change, things move on. What was once considered bizarre
becomes the norm years later. As soon as some big name celebs start
using Glass, or they show up in a popular movie, attitudes will change.
These things all move with mass opinion, and that's never a constant.
Irony is, some of the most useful applications of Glass may be in the
industrial/commercial sector rather than the consumer space, such as
rescue workers, police, fire, medical, environmental, engineering,
maintenance, mining, space sciences, etc. A device that provides data
I/O & coms with voice recognition while keeping one's hands completely
free is potentially extremely useful to a wide variety of people.
IMO it's a rather peculiar response to belittle this device so early in its
development based purely on personal opinions of fashion & style, and
I bet many would change their mind in a heartbeat if the majority opinion
didn't agree with their current negative view. Doubly so if one is only
thinking about its possible uses from an entertainment perspective.
Read your comment a decade from now, that'll be the real test.
Btw, given current events in Kiev, imagine this future scenario: protestors
can film what is happening in front of them, communicate with fellow
activists, etc., while having both hands free to do whatever physical
actions are required in front of them - building barricades, etc. Would
also mean vast numbers of video clips available for use as evidence
against illegal acts by police, etc. Just one example. Think about Glass
from a non-entertainment angle and its possible uses are just endless.
Glass is only the first product of its kind. Think back to what the first
reasonably viable commercial aeroplane was like, the early commercial
services of the 1920s, compare to what we have today with global
air travel. Gadgets like Glass will evolve too, become more powerful,
more flexible, etc. Could a passenger in 1925 have imagined Concorde
or the 777? Who knows what 2nd or 3rd generation Glass devices will
allow one to do? I suspect they will be welcomed openly by those in
future civil rights actions & protests.
Ian.
QED. :\
Ian.
bmwman91 writes:
> ... The issue is that it is going to end up being the next evolution of instant gratification entertainment. ...
Sadly you're right on that point for sure. It's always the way with any new tech, can't be avoided I suppose.
Hopefully though, any bad publicity from that sort of thing will not make it harder to exploit Glass for
more useful & sensible applications.
> Glass is just going to be the next evolution of that, making total-entertainment even more effortless. ...
If Glass becomes too much a product dominated by ads, etc., somebody else will make a rival
device that operates in a different way, assuming there is sufficient demand.
> ... Cheap, effortless entertainment with 24/7 availability is bad for people because people are
> notoriously bad at moderating pleasure-consumption. ...
Reminds me of Leslie Winkle's comment in BBT about the lab rat and the orgasm button. :}
> maker is going to be getting people to treat this like an appendage that they cannot part with. ...
Sadly that's probably not that hard to do given the way people already behave with modern phones.
rwinches writes:
> ... Now we will start seeing the effects of distracted walking worse than the early days of Sony Walkmans.
No different than the way lots of people today end up in accidents because their portable device earphones
prevent them from hearing an oncoming car or a shouted warning about some pending peril. Happens all
the time, but nobody really cares anymore. Even worse are the vast numbers of idiots who cross a road
while gawping at their phones, completely ignoring the traffic flow, etc.
d_kuhn writes:
> ... I think if you look out a decade you'll find that these devices will have legal limits placed on their ability
> to record.
That will depend greatly on one's location in the world. I can imagine it becoming very restrictive in the US,
given the way laws are progressing over there, but I expect it'll remain fairly open in much of Europe. Besides,
unless the device has a physical block that prevents recording somehow, I can't see how any laws could be
enforced. Beyond a certain point, expecting the legal system to control how these devices are used is just
too impractical, though won't stop many nations from clamping down in whatever way they can.
Ian.