Google

For months I’ve known that tomorrow (April 15) is Tax Day in the United States, when federal and state tax returns are due. I just learned that it’s the one day when Google Glass will be available to the general public. Back in May I wrote a post about trying to become a Google Glass early adopter. While it’s cool that a wider range of people will have temporary access to Google Glass, I think I’ll sit out tomorrow’s inevitable purchase rush, however, and wait for the price to come WAY down before trying them. $1500 is a steep price to pay for a fancy toy (at this stage of development)…

Today marks the end of an era: it’s the last day that iGoogle pages will be available. iGoogle is a personalized home page for web browsers, and I’ve used it ever since it was launched in 2008. I glance at it several times a day, to keep track of news, tweets, and Remember the Milk tasks. Tomorrow I’ll have to find a new source for keeping all of these items on one page. Two of the leading replacement contenders are Protopage and Netvibes, but I don’t love either option. Anyone have other suggestions?

Last month I posted a note about wanting (maybe) to be a Google Glass Explorer. It looks like I wasn’t selected, as today The Chronicle of Higher Education has a report about professors’ mixed reviews of using Google Glass in the classroom. Oh well, I’ll check into Google Glass again after the $1500 price tag comes down.

Google Glasses are being touted as a next big technological revolution, and folks are lining up for the opportunity to lay hands on this augmented reality tool. In February Google ran an “If I Had Glass” campaign, where one submitted an entry via Twitter and/or Google+ in an attempt to receive a pre-mass production version and provide feedback to Google about its operation. My Twitter and Google+ entries included a link to a video I made on Vine, a new social media network that allows users to upload and comment on six-second video loops. As you can imagine, there is a lot of porn that must be skirted, but interesting things can actually be done within the confines of a six-second video limit (as is also the case for a 140-character tweet). My Vine is not in that category, but it can still capture the judges’ attention, I hope! Here was my tweet with embedded Vine:

‪#ifihadglass I could go beyond the norm as a new collegiate dean who starts on July 1, 2013  ‪http://vine.co/v/bglJv32b1u5

I’m not sure if I really want to be a “Glass Explorer” who has the opportunity to purchase a pair of Google Glasses for $1500 before they are released to the general public; do I really want to be an early adapter who spends that much money on a product that is sure to have bugs, and is already facing restrictions, such as in bars and in state law?!  It would sure be fun to do additional research about potential uses if given the opportunity, though! Maybe there is an updated version of technorealism out there somewhere….