Would Google Glass be banned in strip clubs?

It's no doubt there's an excitement in the techie world about the Google Glass, seeing the number of news and non-news that comes by every day. Some positive, some negative, everyone is jumping into its slipstream to say something about it. Yes, myself included with this blog, here I go...

"Wouldn't that be a lot of invasion into privacy?" that's  consistently the first comment whenever I explain the Google Glass to a non-techie, so consistent that it's becoming predictable.  Of course, many blogs and tech journals have also jumped onto the bandwagon with articles like "Expect wide usage bans over privacy concerns", "Google Glass Half Full : Why that ban may not be needed", "Google glass is good for privacy"... you get the drift. The marketing champ that stole the limelight is 5 Point Bar, the Seattle bar that made a press release being the first bar to ban the Google Glass, promising an ass kicking for anyone disobeying the ban. 

The lists of where Google Glass would not be welcome runs on and on:

• Pubs, Bars, Cafes : what if you're caught on camera and your wife sees you there when you shouldn;t be, or worse, with someone you shouldn't be with

• Cinemas : you could actually be live streaming that blockbuster movie to anyone(s) in the whole world, or be the first to put up the torrent batmen_returns_again_6_cam_x264_aac-BiGdAddy.torrent

• Casinos : something about counting cards? All I know about casinos is from watching too much Las Vegas (the TV series)

• Playgrounds : because it could be used by pedophiles to monitor kids

Yes, the list can go on and on. That's what disruptive innovation does, it forces people to scramble new rules which didn't need to exist before. New rules about what's acceptable behavior, what's outright not ok and there would be a lot of gray area, a lot of disagreement before the dust settles and a new social norm finds its own balance.

Now you might wonder why sorely missing from the above list of Ban-Google-Glass places is : the Strip Clubs, the title of this post - Would Google Glass be banned in strip clubs? It would be the most logical place to ban it - the privacy of customers, concerns of the performances being recorded / streamed etc. On the contrary, I think Google Glass would be very welcome!

So why do I think Strip Clubs just might not ban it? Just look back in history, you'd find the porn industry has always been the firsts to embrace new technology:

• DVD - when Hollywood was still holding out on DVDs, porn stood up for it - I know because I was marketing DVD-ROM drives and there was like 3 movie titles available for Region 2 (Europe), and at the same time already 200+ porn titles Region-Free - it's true!

• Video Conferencing - the firsts webcam uses (then known as video conferencing ) were mostly personal "hello Grandma" and the likes. Before other non-tech industry could say "Hello, you see me?", all kinds of porn webcam services were making good and solid revenue!

• not to mention breast implant technology, photoshopping, modem dial-up bulletin boards, photo-sharing sites, discreet internet shopping... they've always been ahead on the adoption curve. Well, not just adopting new technology, but actually embracing it and synergizing with full creativity.

You see, there's no stigma.

Not chained by stigma, it's free to embrace, free to create, free to create opportunities that outweigh the negatives. Imagine pay per view or ad-funded crowdcamera'd very multi-angle streaming, instead of illegal streaming; imagine sexciting (sorry I couldn't resist the pun) augmented reality, instead of privacy concerns (eg. auto realtime face replacements could replace your face with that of a dragon); imagine imagine ...

And we all know the old saying "you can do anything you put your mind to". Opportunities don't come to those who say nay. Take a lesson from the porn industry. New opportunities, new challenges, new industries, all thrive on disruptive innovation. Lose the fretting, just imagine.

---- disclaimer
I've been advised me to put this disclaimer (for the sake of my professional career): I am not from the porn industry, nor paid by the porn industry, nor involved with the porn industry in whatever form. The references to the porn industry in the article is just a personal observation that I've noticed in my many years in the technology world, with the introduction of each new technology. And please please read my blogs with whatever sense of humor you can mutter and not take it too seriously.

What if +1 was named +Godzillion…

Google’s +1 has not been doing well in getting followers to click on that +1 Button. Just passed its half month mark, +1 is only managing single digits where right next to it, the rival buttons are getting 10s, 100s, 1000s of Likes, Tweets and so forth. I’ve written an article today on Bright Side of News looking at exactly how bad (or good) +1 is now. In short, not good. The news vine is also starting to write about this disappointing start. What’s wrong? Is it too harsh to start judging +1 now already?

It’s already tough enough to be doing catch up against the golden boys Facebook and Twitter, much less saddled with a bad start. Adding followers one at a time is not quite going to work. Just imagine how different it could be if only +1 was named +Godzillion right from the start…

Check out my +1 reporting on Bright Side of News here : Is Google +1 Yet Another Social Media Dud?

ps. remember to +1 the articles! Without the power of +Godzillion, Google needs every +1 of you…

Happy (belated) Birthday IBM : 100 Years Old

IBM, a name we don’t hear much anymore. Not in the feeds, not in the tweets. IBM, the mighty Apple-killer… I have fond memories of how I traded in my Apple II compatible for an IBM PC compatible. I wrote a blog post today about it - which is now published on BrightSideofNews.com (BSN*) - reflecting on its past glory, a gentle reminder that the movers and shakers of today - Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, Nokia (this one might be on the way already) - could be the grandpa’s of tomorrow.

Have you also once had an IBM PC back then? Did you also totally miss this 100 year old birthday? Can’t be bothered? Feel free to share your thoughts, and memories about it. Comment here, or Twitter @AddLikeFollow

Happy (belated) Birthday IBM : 100 Years Old!
IBM had its 100th birthday yesterday, and I missed it. I did see the news flash by yesterday in by daily news watch, but I was just too busy to write about it. It wasn’t on my to-write list, not on my agenda and disappointingly not on my social media birthday calendars which I have come to rely on. Facebook, Skype, MSN, LinkedIn, iPhone, you name it… noone reminded me of his birthday, shame on you. In fact, probably the only reason it is being news’ed about is because a publisher is pimping the book IBM 100 Years! If IBM has become so off-center in our worlds today, why then do I feel compelled to write about it? And felt it was worth writing about a birthday a day late? … read more here …

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2011/6/17/happy-(belated)-birthday-ibm-100-years-old!.aspx

Xbox Live = Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem?

Microsoft recently showed a new Xbox Live dashboard that is very similar to the user interface of Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8. Add that to their confirmation that Windows 8 will feature “deep Xbox Live integration”.

The intention is to use Xbox Live as the center of entertainment where PCs, Notebooks, Tablets, Phones, Xboxes connect to. Users will be able to enjoy that same games, same content, same app services across different platforms, different devices. Sounds like a cloud to me!

Xbox Live + Windows 8 + Windows Phone 7 + Xbox360 = Cloud Ecosystem?

What’s going for Microsoft in this strategic move to use Xbox Live as the center of gravity is that Xbox Live already has a 35m userbase. The significance is that these are not just casual register-and-forget subscribers, but actually subscription-money paying users focused on consuming games and entertainment. That is a strong powerbase uniquely different from that of Google and Apple. Furthermore, Microsoft’s Xbox360 already has a place in the living room putting that TV screen in its ecosystem, while both Google’s GoogleTV and Apple’s Apple TV has flopped and not (yet) been able to gain any foothold on the TV.

In the war of ecosystem, the headlines have mainly been peppered with Apple vs Google. But do watch out for Microsoft, it´s moves with Bing + Social Media, this Xbox Live integration, shows Microsoft is hardly asleep. With it’s artillery room full of product weapons, all it needs is that right synergy and marketing to center itself again as the dominating cloud ecosystem.

Battle of the Clouds Apple, Google & Microsoft

It’s raining Clouds. These recent days has seen the 3 major movers and shakers of technosumer world (Apple, Google, Microsoft) each busy stealing the thunder from the others’ clouds. Cloud computing is not new per se, it has been a key technology development shaping the professional computing world (data warehousing, corporate services etc). But now it has gone into a frenzy of world domination as each fights to be the cloud that is everything and everywhere for every of you… get ready for the Battle of the Clouds.

So what is this Cloud in the consumer world? It stores all data private and public in a huge common virtual space, where each person’s data is separated only by an ID and password. For common data (eg. music), there is only one copy of it in the cloud and you (and everyone else with access) co-share it with your ID/password access. And since it is in virtual space, any device would have access to that one data via the internet, and would update the same copy. So your phone, tablet, computer, netbook, office computer will all have the same content anywhere, everywhere.

Apple’s iCloud was officially announced on 6 June, coming to you this fall, built into iOS 5. With one sync update every single iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch could be iClouded in no time. Apple promises seamless integration of iCloud in all your existing and new apps since it is built right in the core of iOS 5. Take a photo with your iPhone and that photo will be everywhere in all your devices (Apple of course).

Google’s Cloud (or rather Clouds) is currently a 4-prong force = Google Cloud Music called Music Beta active trials in USA (for all your music everywhere), Google Cloud Print (print to your cloud printer from any device anywhere), Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office (to steal your office documents away from Microsoft’s Cloud), Google Apps Cloud Service (conveniently hip-ping Apps with Cloud). You don’t need to be a weather man to see more cloudy skies at Google – coming soon to ChromeOS for Chromebooks, Android 3.1 phones and tablets and Chrome 12 browser.

Microsoft Windows Cloud is Microsoft’s answer to its rivals. Having the most corporate footprint among the 3, it has already been actively clouding with its corporate clients – Microsoft Cloud Services, Microsoft Cloud Power, marketed with Microsoft Cloud Experience events. But those, as mentioned earlier, are the corporate clouds. In the hype to cloud the consumer world, Microsoft has been the least clear and and least vocal. Windows Cloud seems to be a hastily patched together marketing answer adding Cloud to existing services to [insert cloud icon] Create, [insert cloud icon] Connect, [insert cloud icon] Share with Windows 7 and Windows Live. Microsoft marketers also have to think of how to re-hip the un-hip Windows Live Mesh (seriously which non-tech consumer gets that name) which is essentially a cloud, just not hip. Or wait it out with Windows 8 (recently announced and demo’d), Windows Phone 7 (o dear) and Internet Explorer 10 browser.

Cloud, Cloud, Cloud and more Cloud coming your way. In the Battle of Clouds, music of thunder will roar and flashes of lightning will strike as advertisements, offers, online sentiment swaying and other tactics will come your way to convince and grab you into their cloud. Don’t be afraid, don’t let them cloud your judgment – just pick that one soft white fluffy cotton-like cloud and frolic in consumer content heaven… i.e. until one dominates and then changes the rules (don’t they always do? remember the nice Microsoft as an underdog?). Enjoy the coming happy clouds while you can  : ).

Follow Follow

We all know how Facebook has single handedly reduced our complex world of “Loves” and “Hates” into “Like”. I used to Love some stuff, and Hate some others, and got all passionate about it, esp. with other similar or opposites. And in one couple of Facebook years it’s all been simplified to “Like”, not even dislike, just Like. One up for positivity! The popularity of “Like” is massive, was thought out to be. It’s simple, it’s positive, it spreads positivity, and most importantly I have to do nothing else – just one click, and nothing else, no typing, no thinking of what to say.

Following the footsteps of “Like”, comes “Follow” – equally simple, equally hip, equally just one click… follow. Why Subscribe (thinks of subscription forms) and why Add (yikes mathematics), when you can simply Follow.

So all the Google, Youtube subscribes and adds have turned into follow, and to complete the story, Twitter has too joined in and launched the “Follow” button. The king of 140-word simplification realised that even 140-word could be too much to ask, for the fact that there are so many non-active Twitter. Well, what’s simpler and more passive … Let’s Follow.

Well after all the active finger exercise typing this text, let me catch up on the simplicity of positive passiveness… Like Like Follow Follow Like Like Like

Follow @addlikefollow