Geek

I spent my afternoon doing what I'm paid to do, that is, writing code to build applications to help my fellow employees be more efficient in maintaining important telecommunication networks. That's a pretty geeky job and it is something that I am proud of. I feel like I am doing good in the world in my way through my career and it feels good.

While I was writing code today, I had the Google IO keynote speech up on my second monitor and playing softly in my ears. This approach is probably not the most efficient way to write code because quite frankly I was distracted by all the new geeky things (and nifty enhancements) that Google was announcing during this three-hour presentation. I thought the presentation was well done and I thought that overall what Google showed us today was quite exciting.

It's been a long while since I've been excited by technology. In search of something new and exciting, last year I tried to make the switch to Linux full-time through the purchase of a Lenovo ThinkPad. Having lived in the Apple world for so long, the Lenovo had big shoes to fill when it came to my hardware expectations. It turns out that the hardware was solid enough, but I didn't find it exciting after all. Interesting? Yeah, kind of. But I couldn't embrace that laptop like I feel like I can embrace my older MacBook Pro. Along the same lines, however, I'm not excited by Apple's current line of MacBooks and the like these days. With each software update, the MBP is being forced into obsolescence. While I can certainly work up a lust for a new 13-inch MBP Retina, honestly I think the lust would be short lived. I'm feeling the need for the next step in the evolution of technology.

I think some of the products that Google demonstrated today, namely the improvements in search via voice and Google Now, the enhancements to Google Maps and the closer integration of all of their products, while still remaining friendly to differing OS platforms, are herding me in the direction of looking outside the walled garden of Apple again. This might make my husband nervous. But I'm not ready to leap until I know where I'm going to land this time. Should I consider a Pixel? Should I just go with a Nexus tablet? Should I continue to add more Google services to my existing Apple hardware?

After watching the Google keynote today I couldn't help but think that Apple better be announcing some mighty impressive stuff next month at WWDC. I'm not just talking about a prettier skin over iOS 6 or a slightly bigger iPhone 5, I'm thinking more integrated yet cooperative enhancements to the entire technology experience. Granted it would be nice to have a version of Siri that doesn't try to play Bananarama when I ask for a song by Heart or a version of Maps that doesn't try to send me across the active runway of Houston Airport as a valid route to Interstate 45. No, I'm looking for something along the lines of Google Now, something like "here's a steakhouse you might like" popping up automatically on an iWatch when it's 6:00 p.m. and I'm in the right neighborhood. Or a heads-up display on the lower portion of my windshield, run by my newest iDevice, showing me the proper way to Interstate 45. In reality I should probably be happy for the ability to use FaceTime to call some of my friends using Windows 8 or an Android phone, that would at least be a step in the right direction.

Cooperative integration that is more predictive and a heck of a lot more intelligent: that's what I find exciting. Google is making inroads to making this happen. Can Apple do it as well? Can I have an iDevice that can talk to an Android phone? How about Google Glass being able to fully use my iPhone as a homing station. Or what about Find My Friends being able to find all my friends or Siri using my Google+ data to show me where the closest barbershop is. Will Siri understand a statement such as, "Great suggestion, Siri, how do I get there?"

There's no doubt that next month Apple is going to announce a few nifty things, let's face it, they're overdue for that sort of thing. But I have to tell you, if these next evolutionary steps in the iWorld continue to be part of a walled garden, I'm not sure that I will be able to have the same feelings of geeky excitement that I had today when watching the Google IO keynote. Could these tech folks that have migrated over to Google products and powered hardware after years of Apple devotion be onto something after all?

I guess only time will tell.

#share

#share

I think one of the catches with the introduction of Google Glass is that it's a shift in paradigms. People that are hostile towards Google Glass are uncomfortable with the lack of identification to a similar device. I bet that 99% of the people you know still refer to their smartphone as their "phone". The telephone has been around for over 100 years. People are comfortable with the concept of a phone. The phone allows them to communicate. And though the methods vary, people still communicate on their phone. Granted, one of the least common activities on today's smartphone is probably the actual phone call, but people still see it as a communications device when in reality, it's a computer. That thing we call a phone is a real, live, fully functional computer and it is capable of much more than an old Princess Phone ever dreamed of doing.

People are used to glasses being used to see things, and that's it. They're not used to glasses being used as a communications or computing device. Glasses are used to improve eyesight. This shift in paradigm is making people uneasy. There's no "oh, it's a phone!" type identification going on. The baseline is missing.

While there is a lot of FUD out there about Google Glass (for example, Google Glass in its default configuration will not allow the user to take a photo simply by winking, despite what others are screaming from roof tops, you have to add that functionality to the device), I do get that people are concerned about folks recording a moment they shouldn't be recording. That problem exists all over the place today. Where there's a phone, there's a camera. Where there's a phone, the potential of a recording device exists. Where there's a public street, the possibility of a surveillance device exists. One quick side note, I find it weird when articles talk about things such as "privacy in public spaces." When did we expect to be incognito in public?

This is where society is going to have to set etiquette standards on the proper use of Google Glass and other wearable technology. As technology evolves, an "all or nothing" approach is going to get us nowhere. If you don't like the technology, don't use it? If you're uncomfortable with the technology that's being used by someone near you, politely say to them, "would you mind taking your glasses off?", with the same approach and social grace as if you were walking up to a person in a restaurant and asking them to speak softer on their phone. I really believe that there is a common ground where Google Glass can exist in public. It's called having faith in our fellow human beings. Innocent until proven guilty.

Society has adapted to technology just as quickly as technology has adapted to society over the years. I don't believe folks really tolerate the person screaming into their bluetooth earpiece whilst waiting in line for movie tickets. Looks, stares, glares and comments usually get the hint across. Callers have a responsibility of being respectful of those around them. Etiquette needs to be established. Technology shouldn't be banished. If people can't figure out etiquette then I believe we have a bigger problem in society today.

That all being said, Glass wears should be respectful of those around them. Wearing Google Glass in public in not unlike any other situation — betamax cameras at tourist traps, phones in theatres, etc. Societal pressure will lead where one can or cannot use Google Glass. Respect. It's not a difficult concept.

Remember that though something may be different and outside your comfort zone, it doesn't mean that it is wicked scary and must be stopped at once. Don't be afraid to think outside the box and maybe build a new one in the process.

#share