Ready for Google Glass?

David Pogue says it's the next big thing.  A wearable computer, attached to eyeglasses of sorts, Google Glass will allow us to be connected 24/7.  And best of all, it will be responsive to natural voice commands. No more keyboards, no more fishing in pockets for phones.  The world will be right there in our glasses!

That's not the only thing on the digital horizon, according to Pogue, a former New York Times' tech columnist who spoke at NCC last week.  Driver-less cars are already being tested in some states, with more to follow.  While the cars require someone to sit in the driver's seat, the vehicle's sensors and other technologies do the rest.

Besides highlighting what's new, Pogue also pointed to some items headed for antiquity.  Among them: print newspapers and televisions.  While not predicting the demise of journalism or TV  programming, Pogue sees computers as being the only way we'll soon read the Daily News, watch the Mets, and keep up with the latest episodes of "Mad Men."  And it will happen faster than anyone thinks, he believes.

Is all this good?  Pogue tended to sidestep this question, preferring to focus on what's ahead and how technology will change life for all of us.  Still, it's not hard to see the advantages of cars that will make life easier for non-drivers (or for those who've had a few too many Blue Moons!).  Nor can anyone quarrel with technology that will allow us to arrange for a forgotten prescription to be delivered to a sick friend in a faraway city (something Pogue knows from firsthand experience).

But what about Google Glass (and similar tech products)?  Are there not some potential negatives to having a computer in your face every waking moment?  Will it further erode our privacy and attention spans?  Will it make crossing busy streets a dangerous activity and--even more unsettling--diminish our ability to relate to human beings sitting next to us in class?  

Already some are voicing their unhappiness, suggesting that the Google world is too much with us.  Recent protests against Google in San Francisco, while extreme and irrational at times, nevertheless suggest some discomfort with a technology that some believe simply won't leave people alone.  http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/14/tech/mobile/google-glass-attack/ 

The key, of course, is not to be simply "for" or "against" technology (including Google Glass), but instead to understand its impact and implications.  That seemed to be Pogue's POV in his talk at NCC: Technology isn't going away, so it's up to all of us to understand and think about its impact, for better or worse, on our lives.  Navigating the tech world is not for the passive.  

Perhaps never before has the need to be a clear and critical thinker been so important!