Panopticon of global surveillance

[Peter Lemkin]

Did Edward Snowden Ruin Google Glass?

By Alec Liu

Google Glass makes us uncomfortable. Via Flickr/Lingeswaran Marimuthukumar

Now that the Google Glass guinea pigs have had eight months to try out the biggest thing in wearable tech, the product's short term prospects aren't looking good and part of the reason is the NSA. Beyond costing tech companies untold billions, the fear of government surveillance is problematic for wearable tech. Privacy concerns make Glass socially awkward, according to long-time users.
Google unveiled its futuristic accessory to a wave of good press, aided by some smart marketing material, at a time when smartphone upgrades were starting to lose some luster and excitement. What was next? A smart TV? A digital watch?
The stars were aligned. Computerized spectacles intuitively made sense: ever-present, as to address our need to be constantly available and ready to share every possible moment, but out of the way enough so that we could carry on with business as usual. The stuff of sci-fi fantasies, we felt like the future had finally arrived. Plus, this was Google.
So when the first prototypes became available to the public on April 14th, there was an understandable amount of buzz. Google Glass was cool, even if it may have been kind of douchey to some. Being accepted to the Explorers program, which cost a hefty $1,500, felt like being invited to a hip party, a badge of honor that earned "mad Likes" on Facebook. Glass's success appeared all but certain.
Two months later, Edward Snowden would turn the world upside down with his now infamous NSA leaks. No longer the subject of tin foil hat conspiracy theorists, government surveillance entered mainstream consciousness. Every American tech firm was implicated, including Google. Privacy concerns always existed, but they were limited to media critics, as they usually are, and arguably overblown. Overnight, it was on everyone's mind.
At the very least, we were creeped out. Some of my more ambitious (or paranoid) friends started using PGP encryption. My sister put masking tape over her webcam. Suddenly, Google Glass wasn't just a way to seamlessly share on-the-trot, livestream invasive surgeries, and make first-person porn, it became yet another conduit for NSA spying. Now it was kind of awkward.
Google Glass will only be successful if we think it's sexy, which the company is acutely aware of. Like all information networks, its utility is directly correlated with how many people use it. Granted, first-mover status will predictably face the initial backlash from the egalitarian-minded, which Wired's Mat Honan acknowledges, after sporting Glass for nearly a year.
"Wearing Glass separates you," writes Honan in his smart year-end retrospective, 'I, Glasshole.' "It sets you apart from everyone else. It says you not only had $1,500 to plunk down to be part of the "explorer" program, but that Google deemed you special enough to warrant inclusion (not everyone who wanted Glass got it; you had to be selected). Glass is a class divide on your face."
New tech is by definition elitist: expensive with limited accessibility. But that's okay; it's the tried and true formula. Facebook began with only Harvard students. iPhones initially retailed for $600. We're suckers like that, we always want what we can't have. Class divisions become a way to signify social standing, a superficial validation of our trendiness, like the iPod's iconic white earbuds or Tesla's distinctive Model S. We might call them assholeswhich Honan experiences regularly first-hand from passers-by and, perhaps surprisingly, even tech-savvy Wired colleaguesbut we're secretly envious. Along those lines, Glass seemed destined for the same fate notes Honan, pointing out the "precious set of beautiful millennials you most commonly see wearing Glass in social settings here in the Bay Area." In the case of Glass, the demographic is mostly white men.
The NSA revelations potentially nullifies the exclusivity upside. No longer just an extravagant accessory, Glass is invasive, fashion sense notwithstanding, complicating already tenuous social rules regarding our gadget addiction.
"My Glass experiences have left me a little wary of wearables because I'm never sure where they're welcome," laments Honan. Of course, there's plenty of other reasons why Glass "is socially awkward" and makes "people uncomfortable," he writes, but privacy concerns only exacerbate social norms already difficult to overcome. Bluetooth headsets are rude because we can't be sure if the person is having another conversation. Glass is problematic because we don't know if we're being recorded (or watched, according to the more sinister narrative)................