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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Google Glass, Revisited.

Google is one of a few companies that has both the capabilities and the resources to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape of technology. With first-mover advantages leading innovators to net huge profits for their creativity and timeliness, research and development teams are constantly trying to find that cutting edge that will set their brand apart from everyone else.

A few weeks ago, I posted about the potential of Google's new product development, Project Glass. It could, and still can, disrupt the entire advertising industry. Here's the link.

Breaking through the advertising Glass ceiling.

The online giant has posed a new challenge, though. With the online market functioning so heavily off of consumer feedback and communication, Google has asked those interested in the project to tell all about what they would do if they had a model of Glass. A revamped video that, once again, highlights the many uses of the product can be found on multiple YouTube channels online, and it was just released this morning.


On their website (Google Glass) this video follows up a plethora of information regarding the new product, its many color offerings, and a contest.

Google has become so confident in Project Glass that they have implemented this contest to see just what potential users would do with it. Using the hashtag "#ifihadglass" on Twitter and Google+ and explaining just what you would do enters you into a contest just to be able to buy an early model of Glass for $1500+ and try it out. That doesn't include taxes or the cost of flying out to one of three large American cities to actually pick it up.



Let's first address the fact that this may be the best $1500 opportunity to ever be available to the general public. As a college student, I have maybe that much money collectively from both my savings and my checking accounts. I would spend all of it to acquire a pair of these bad boys.

With that in mind, the luxurious price tag they've slapped on it can only do them well. It generates interest in the product, and, in the worst-case scenario, they would have to lower prices to facilitate demand for a product that is already generating a ridiculous amount of buzz online.

A multi-billion dollar company doesn't have as much as the average company trying to roll out a groundbreaking product, but it seems as if Google won't have any problem with Glass.

Monday, February 11, 2013

The Private Parts.

Pictures play a large part in making the Internet what it is: a visual spectrum with images of all kinds for anyone to enjoy. Every search engine has a feature that can explore postings on the Web for anything uploaded by online users. Results are neatly displayed, with links to their original pages, and the experience is becoming easier with every day that passes.

An issue that's existed with every aspect of the Internet, however, is that of security/privacy. High-profile brands run the risk of being impersonated without knowing. Big money-earning companies may be hacked, as well, just as Bank of America has in the past. Social sites like Facebook often come under fire for the accessibility of content posted by users. What about image sharing sites like Flickr?

Flickr Bug Exposes Private Photos

Recently the photo-sharing site had some issues regarding users' private pictures not actually being private. While not every user was wronged by this bug, those that were received an oddly frustrating treatment as reparations. Every public photo submitted by affected users was turned private, regardless of how the user wanted them to be.


On one hand, users are highly inconvenienced (albeit for a short time) by having to go out and select specific pictures to be set to a specific privacy setting. The service is free, but so are other social sites. Messing up with privacy settings is an easy way to lose a lot of traffic, but messing up the cleanup process afterward is an easy way to garner some poor ratings from lost consumers. You don't really see Facebook or Twitter doing much besides temporarily going out of service, leaving everyone inconvenienced at once, instead of temporarily dropping the ball for a select few.

On the other hand, this type of reaction can be attributed to how this generation of Internet users is. Everything needs to be free and as quick or convenient as possible. Some third party may just need to step in and remind everyone involved that they should try providing a better service if they'd like to complain about it.

Flickr doesn't necessarily need to worry about losing all the traffic on its site; with platforms like Instagram gaining in popularity, it's getting easier than ever to upload pictures in a more social manner. However, with more people flocking to online photo services, it would do nothing but help them if they could learn from their mistakes with this most recent bug and provide better service to their current users.