Jogani 1 Viral Jogani Professor Daipha Sociology 241 30 October 2013 TITL In 200!

" the late Ste#e Jobs appeare$ on stage an$ intro$%ce$ to the &orl$ the #ery first iPhone' Jobs an$ his co&or(ers at )pple ha$ rein#ente$ the phone an$ cataly*e$ a series of e#ents that &o%l$ fore#er change the face of co+p%ting an$ the +obile in$%stry' Si, years later" -oogle plans to perfor+ the sa+e re#ol%tionary feat &ith their latest brea(thro%gh pro$%ct" -oogle -lass' -lass is $escribe$ as a portable $e#ice that has the ability to $isplay infor+ation an$ i+ages to the %ser &itho%t obstr%cting his #ie&' )s of no&" -lass can perfor+ the follo&ing .basic/ f%nctions0 ta(e pict%res" recor$ #i$eos" search -oogle" translate te,t" sen$ +essages" an$ pro#i$e $irections' 1o&e#er" after -oogle opens %p their $e#elop+ent platfor+ to the p%blic" -lass &ill be able to r%n applications an$ pro#i$e +ore #al%e to the %ser' 2hat a f%t%re &ith -oogle -lass &o%l$ loo( li(e is the s%b3ect of a Tech4a$ar article" title$ .2020 #ision0 The f%t%re of -oogle -lass"/ &ritten by 5hris S+ith' S+ith e,plores the potential applications of -lass in #ario%s fiel$s" incl%$ing +e$icine" 3o%rnalis+" an$ athletics' The concepts of interpretati#e fle,ibility an$ technology $esign an$ progress &ill be %se$ to pro#i$e a co+prehensi#e e,planation of ho& -oogle &ill %lti+ately rein#ent glasses an$ rely on (ey i$eas of technological $esign an$ progress in or$er to +a(e it a life6changing technology' )ltho%gh the origins of glasses are %nclear" it is a fact that ancient 4o+ans an$ 5hinese scholars ha#e %tili*e$ glass to enhance their eyesight' 2hether it &as a +agnifying glass or a rea$ing stone" glass has been %se$ to rea$ te,ts clearly' It &as not %ntil the early 20th cent%ry

Jogani 2 &hen the first safety glasses &ere intro$%ce$ that the f%n$a+ental p%rpose of glasses &as altere$ fro+ i+pro#ing eyesight to protecting the eyes' 7ntil the 1840s" the interpretati#e fle,ibility of glasses &as at a +ini+%+ le#el9 it &as generally accepte$ that glasses &ere a tool to i+pro#e eyesight' 1o&e#er" as s%nglasses beca+e pop%lar" people began &earing the+ both as a fashion state+ent an$ as a &ay to protect their eyes fro+ %ltra#iolet ra$iation' Society reali*e$ that glasses can be %se$ for other p%rposes an$ they &ere not e,cl%si#ely li+ite$ to in$i#i$%als &ith poor eyesight' S%nglasses" specifically" beca+e synony+o%s &ith celebrities an$ stat%s sy+bols as the p%blic sa& stars li(e Ja+es Dean" Jac( :icholson" an$ ;ichael Jac(son $on &ayfarers an$ a#iators' 2earing glasses as a fashion tren$ is still one of the pri+ary f%nctions of glasses an$ -oogle has recogni*e$ that" a$#ertising a -lass photo6shoot in a 126page sprea$ in Vogue +aga*ine' 1o&e#er" -oogle also plans to a$$ a ne& $efinition in the $ictionary &ith -lass' The &earable technology &ill not only re#ol%tioni*e the optics in$%stry" b%t it &ill also change the &ay &e f%n$a+entally interact &ith infor+ation fro+ the Internet' In the article" S+ith $etails ho& a physician can recei#e a patient<s $ata %nobtr%si#ely thro%gh -lass' =%ic( an$ easy access to #ital infor+ation allo&s for a s+oother an$ safer operation that &ill %lti+ately sa#e a life' :ot only can infor+ation be >%ic(ly accesse$" b%t it can also be share$ >%ic(ly' )nother acco%nt S+ith &rites abo%t &here -lass &ill be applicable in the f%t%re is citi*en 3o%rnalis+' 5ri+e reports an$ first6han$ acco%nts of e#ents as they happen can be strea+e$ or share$ fro+ the #ie&er<s eyes to the &orl$' :e&s can be sprea$ +ore rapi$ly an$ th%s" assistance can be recei#e$ +ore s&iftly' The ne,t fe& years &ill s%rely res%lt in a para$ig+ shift for co+p%ting as the a$#ent of &earable technologies &ill alter ho& infor+ation is create$" cons%+e$" an$ share$' To$ay<s society #ie&s a pair of glasses as a si+ple pro$%ct &ith an e#en si+pler $esign' On the contrary" the -oogle -lass &as $esigne$ &ith the +entality of .for+ o#er f%nction'/

Jogani 3 Since -oogle is a soft&are an$ har$&are co+pany" the +ini+alistic $esign of -oogle -lass &as the res%lt of the s%ccessf%l collaboration bet&een engineers" $esigners" $e#elopers" an$ technicians' 2itho%t this net&or( of s(ille$ &or(ers an$ technologies" -oogle -lass &o%l$ ha#e cease$ to e,ist or &o%l$ ha#e $ie$ as a concept' -oogle -lass follo&s the certainty tro%gh by ;c?en*ie perfectly" as &ell' @or the $e#elopers" -lass &as $efinitely a .+oon shot/ pro$%ct that +ay or +ay not s%ccee$ as a cons%+er pro$%ct' )ltho%gh the $e#ice is not yet a#ailable to the p%blic" the potential %sers of -lass ha#e polari*e$ #ie&s abo%t the pro$%ct" b%t there is no $o%bt Aor #ery littleB that it &ill enhance their li#es in so+e shape or for+' It &as $esigne$ by -oogle" as S+ith states" to appeal to a .#ision of cons%+er %sage'/ 1e e#en goes so far as to pre$ict a $esign for -lass that is e+be$$e$ in the retina" li(e a contact lens' ) technological feat s%ch as this co%l$ not be achie#e$ &itho%t a net&or( of technologies an$ social gro%ps that e#ol#e technological $esign' The technological e,perts an$ p%n$its" on the other han$" are critical of the $e#ice an$ its role in a society &ith pri#acy concerns' They feel the technology is not yet rea$y for the p%blic to %se" an$ +ore i+portantly" so+e e#en fear the technology in the han$s of a co+pany as large an$ &i$e6reaching as -oogle' Despite these %ncertainties" people still belie#e -oogle is inno#ating an$ as a res%lt" other co+panies &ill also inno#ate to co+pete' The reason &hy other co+panies &on<t be releasing a si+ilar $e#ice in the near f%t%re is beca%se of the tacit (no&le$ge an$ $ata that -oogle possesses' 5o+panies in 5hina ha#e +irrore$ the $e#ice to create so+ething f%nctionally si+ilar" b%t they $on<t ha#e the reso%rces an$ (no&le$ge to $e#elop a technology on the sa+e playing fiel$ as -oogle<s' 2hat +a(es -oogle %ni>%e is the fact that its pro$%cts A)n$roi$" Search" an$ ;aps to na+e a fe&B collect so +%ch $ata abo%t its %sers' This $ata enables -oogle to pro#i$e an e,perience tailore$ specifically to its %sers" so+ething a co+pany li(e )pple or @aceboo( cannot yet replicate' It is tr%e co+ple,ity bree$s

Jogani 4 collaboration" b%t it bree$s &ith it co+petition too" an$ in this race of co+petition" technology" an$ hopef%lly" society &ill progress' In to$ay<s $ay an$ age" technological progress co+es in the for+ of the latest #iral +obile app or social net&or(' 4ather than foc%sing on these +inor" transient no#elties" -oogle loo(s at the bigger pict%re' -lass is 3%st one a+ong the +any pro3ects -oogle has %n$er its belt' -oogle<s self6$ri#ing car an$ balloon6po&ere$ Internet are t&o of the other pop%lar technologies' Coth are re#ol%tionary in their respecti#e fiel$s" an$ &ith -lass" they pro#i$e a gli+pse of a potential f%t%re' So+e +ay arg%e that technological progress has stagnate$ o#er the last fe& cent%ries" ho&e#er" &ith the presence of technologies li(e -lass" progress is contin%o%sly +a$e' -lass &ill positi#ely infl%ence the &ay $octors operate on patients" people li#e &ith $isabilities" st%$ents learn ne& +aterial" an$ e#en the &ay people &ill co++%nicate &ith foreigners' If any technology i+pro#es the &ay h%+ans li#e &itho%t negati#e conse>%ences" then it certainly is a step in the right $irection" an$ -lass is a great e,a+ple of s%ch a technology' )ltho%gh the rate of change +ay be slo&er" co+panies are &or(ing to&ar$s perfecting their c%rrent technologies instea$ of aban$oning pro3ects an$ ch%rning o%t so+ething ne& e#ery no& an$ then' It is also necessary for co+panies to not +a(e profit their pri+ary goal' In an econo+ic syste+ that places profit an$ po&er at the top of the pe$estal" society is bo%n$ to be neglecte$' This can be pre#ente$" ho&e#er" if co+panies beco+e +ore altr%istic an$ reali*e the benefits of social goo$' -oogle -lass can be an$ has been %se$ for goo$" b%t only if -oogle contin%es to $e#elop it for the a$#ance+ent of h%+anity &ill it contrib%te to social progress in the long ter+'