Sergey Brin emasculated after HORROR smartphone disaster
I was just fondling my slab, minding my own business and...
Seething mass of testosterone and Google co-founder Sergey Brin has stated that smartphones are emasculating.
Speaking at the Technology, Education and Design TED conference series on the subject of Google Glasses and the future of Google, Brin let drop that he finds the fastest growing technology of the past decade to be "emasculating".
Seeing people - well, presumably just men - hunched over their smartphones, just looked wrong, said the tech titan. "Is this what you’re meant to do with your body?" he asked.
Brin's remedy for the manhood-stripping mobes, of course, was Google's own augmented reality glasses - Google Glass - which has tiny computers bolted onto its frame and leaves your hands free.
The tech boss said he hopes the new Google glasses will allow once more for "natural" human interaction.
In what is described as "an intimate moment" by the TED blog, Brin relates his worries about people's addiction to smartphone. “Is this the way you’re meant to interact with other people? It’s kind of emasculating. Is this what you’re meant to do with your body?”
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COMMENTS
Re: Confessions of a search engine Exec
I was really worried about you for a moment there, Eadon. You had a completely unrelated article to work and I was concerned that you wouldn't be able to find a place to get a gratuitous dig at Microsoft in.
But you managed it and thus all was normal with the world.
Re: Confessions of a search engine Exec
Quite so. Televisions foster hyperbole, drama etc... We want none of that around here do we, Eadon?
He hopes the new Google glasses will allow once more for "natural" human interaction.
I can imagine that happening when the person you're interacting with has a camera staring them in the face.
Re: New Balls Please
He had a lucky escape if she's less interesting than a phone
I can think of more emasculating things
This tech reminds me in some ways of bluetooth handsfree ear pieces. People used to walk around talking into them not realising that to everyone else they looked either mad and / or a colossal dickhead. If their intent was to look cool, it failed badly.
I think these glasses will convey the same effect only more so since it's not just sound but vision too. Who really wants to engage someone in conversation who is wearing these? Are they filming you while you speak to them? Are they even paying attention to their surroundings or the email they just got? Maybe they're ogling you through some augmented reality dong / boobies app? How great would that be? Not great in the slightest. In terms of social acceptance I think these things will rank somewhere between strong body odour and Tourette's syndrome.
At least with a phone you can see them fiddly with it and know their attention is diverted.
The tech could be extremely useful in lots of scenarios where sociality is not necessary (e.g. Amazon warehouse staff could use the glasses as a HUD to fulfill orders faster). but I think the picture painted by Google so far is totally unrealistic. Who knows where it may end, but so far I'm not hugely impressed.
