Some Glass humor

I took a day off from Glass today with numerous end-of-the-week-and-month deadlines looming. But I will do a short post on some fun Glass humor.

Siri, Apple's er...whatever she is...has a few opinions/attitudes on Glass, which were reported but then I had to give it a try, too. So I did a little Instagram video on one of them!

Met my deadlines, btw, and will be wearing Glass (and on to new Explorations) tomorrow!

Thinking about Marketing and Glass

As a marketing professor for University of Phoenix I enjoy thinking about the impact of technology on marketing. In fact, we just had a discussion question in my graduate-level "Product Development and Design" class about the impact of tech on marketing research, which of course has been huge over the last several decades.

There's an interesting video clip via +Adweek from marketing deep-thinker (and fellow #GlassExplorer) @ianschafer about the potential impact of Glass on Marketing - worth a look.

Thanks Google Glass - I do appreciate it!

I was up early this Sunday morning, and had my Glass on attempting to take a photo of a pretty sunrise coming through our backyard trees.

While I was aware it was my birthday, I was still rather surprised to see this screen image when I looked through the Glass viewer. I never did get the shot I wanted, trying both Glass and my iPhone5 before I giving up. But I was motivated enough, later in the day, to get my Nexus 7 up and going with the Glass Android app, and then connected for the first time, so I could use the "screencast" function to see the screen images from my Glass on the Nexus. I then was able to capture a screen shot, which is posted here. So that's a couple more tick marks on my Glass to-do list!

And as I mentioned in the subject line here: Glass, I do appreciate the birthday greetings!

Google Glass Economics - part one

As has been widely reported, qualifying to become a Google Glass Explorer is fairly exclusive (the total number of Explorers is 8,000 individuals). And then once deemed to be "in", becoming a Glass-wearing Explorer costs $1,500 (plus tax) and the time and expense involved in visiting Google offices in San Francisco, New York or Los Angeles to be trained and take ownership your unit.

I will have more to say about the "unique" nature of this would-be beta program, including the high price of entry, in another post, but since I teach Economics (as well as Marketing) and have a class coming up on "Opportunity Cost". I have to report on the "black market" in Glass, as represented on eBay.

While the Explorer agreement includes a ban on selling your Glass (gifting is allowed), there is a "buyer beware" market that I've been watching, with what amounts to 3 to 5 Glass units up for bid at any given time. The auction pictured here gives an idea of the asking price - with 4+ hours to go on the auction the bid is at $5,000.

So given an Explorer is willing to part with his or her Glass, and this pricing holds for long enough to post and execute an eBay auction, what's the REAL cost of being an Explorer? 

Exploring Downtown Boise

Just a quick note on my continuing Glass progress. I've been exploring our downtown area a bit, while actually wearing my Glass in public, resulting in a few odd looks. I snapped a handful of fun shots, and then continued to experiment with sharing, through Evernote, Google +, and Twitter.

The "City Hall" photo, above, was "shared" via Evernote, then emailed to myself, then saved on my iPhone, then grabbed and tweaked by the iPhone Instagram app. The Instagram tweaks (tweeks?) really helped the photo's appearance by the way. And the roundabout process was time-consuming and unfriendly.

I remember during by Glass training last Wednesday my surprise there was not already an Instagram app/connector. In lieu of something "built in", I am seeking a more elegant way to post there, pictures and ideally videos, via the Explorer Community, so stay tuned.

Seven days with Glass makes one week

So sorry for that bumper-sticker-ism, but couldn't resist the headline as I recap my first week with Glass. I've had lots of fun with it (them?), having shown lots of people at least a little bit about it; captured some nice stills and video clips; got it to consistently connect to my iPhone and through it, the internet; come to understand at a new level the workings of Google Plus; and overall had a blast!

I've also struggled to have it charged and ready to go when I think it should be; puzzled over a number of its functions including "share" (and "Cher"); and realized I have many (welcome) challenges ahead of me.

And it's been enjoyable, and much more meaningful, to read about other #GlassExplorers' experiences, both realized and planned. As I look ahead to the weekend, I am excited to do something, and not sure just what right now, with Golfing #ThroughGlass and Birding #ThroughGlass. So stay tuned and on the Week Two.

Progress, and some quirks

Here's the image (recreated) that appeared on my Glass, when I tried to ask it to provide me some information about how to "share" images.

But that was one of the more humorous outcomes over the last few days, and compared to my last post here ("First Full Day with Glass? A bit frustrating"), I have come a long way in getting closer to understanding Glass and getting some good results.

I have it completely working with my iPhone for its data connection (via Bluetooth and tethering), was getting some good still photos as early as Friday, including adding a "#throughglass" tweet of one of my favorite photo subjects, and today did a bike ride with Glass and managed to capture a number of 10-second videos.

Got so far as posting to the Glass Explorers Forum "50 States Through Glass" - after "sharing" through Evernote, back down to the PC, and posting on YouTube, which allowed me to have a URL to embed into the Explorers Forum post.

Next? Give it a rest for awhile (after all it's a Sunday), and then continue to master the interface, sharing, and the like. Curious about why one Windows PC recognizes it, and another does it, when using Micro-USB connection for charging. Also, haven't got the Android App to hook up yet. Hmmm, and I know there are other things I'm not thinking of...

And that's without even considering "Google Glass Printing"!

First Full Day with Glass? A bit frustrating...

My first full day (Thursday) with Glass came back in Boise, with its alarming smoky conditions, the result of nearby wild fires. The Air Quality conditions hit the "purple" Very Unhealthy level (according to airnow.gov) at times - though now (Friday morning) we are all the way down to the Yellow, moderate category. (The photo above was taken with my iPhone.)

On the frustrating sign, after getting my Glass's power recharged and providing my very supportive wife with a brief morning demo, my challenge became connectivity. My iPhone bluetooth connection didn't seem to want to work, and after I downloaded the Android app for my Nexus 7, it also wouldn't connect via bluetooth, convincing me it's something that's turned itself off in the Glass, which I need to work on. My WiFi-connect efforts were similarly frustrating, using the "Myglass" website and its QR-code based methods. Both of my working-for-everything-else, password-protected Wifi networks were not accessible by Glass after repeated attempts, though the efforts seemed to drain its battery dramatically - from 100% to about 75% in about 45 minutes of failed connection efforts, and nothing else.

On the positive side, in addition to the Nexus 7 app located and installed, I did get connected with the "Explorers" website, and found some troubleshooting information in addition to exploring the site, where I plan to post a Glass-captured Idaho in its "State by State" thread. So stay tuned!

A tiny bit more of my Google Glass background

My goal for this blog is to record my current, real-time experiences as a #glassexplorer. And now that I've achieved that by picking up my Glass at Google San Francisco, now that my long pick-up day is done, I thought it would be worthwhile (historian that I am) to at least provide some minimal background for those interested.


In early July, anticipating my official Explorer status, I posted "Writing About Mobile Printing Leads to All Things Google?" over at my regular Goin' Mobile blog at the Imaging Channel.

Again, stay tuned here for daily (or near-daily) hands-on experiences and thoughts, but take a look at the above for background.

Thanks!

I'm in - now an official #GlassExplorer

As of about 1pm Pacific Daily Time, I have in my possession a paid-for, legally-registered Google Glass unit that I've anticipated getting for months now. I received some excellent training and TLC from the staff at the Google-San Francisco offices, and definitely will enjoy getting to know this exciting new technology.

I am no stranger to many of the mobile devices released over the last number of years, so was eager to get onto Glass too. So when the Explorer program was announced in February, I "applied" via tweet, with the cryptic, "#IFIHADGLASS Will blog/tweet experience from boomer perspective." And at the end of March, much to my pleasure, I heard I was "in", and then have been waiting pretty much since then to get scheduled in and pick up my glass, which happened just a couple of hours ago.

So here I am - blogging and tweeting from a boomer perspective. And so far, as cool as I think Glass is and as excited as I am to make it work its magic (and yes, EXPLORE), I just can't quite get up the nerve to wear it in public, at least so far (streets of San Francisco, BART, SFO airport and United Club). I will work on this - maybe in the confines of my own home, then working outward to the downtown office, the gym, the coffee shop...we shall see! And only as seen on Instagram (and definitely not Facebook or Twitter, let alone LinkedIn!) - my own "selfie" taken in a quite corner of the aforementioned United Club.

After all, I promised to blog and tweet, so it's a start!

One day to pickup!

Getting ready for the pickup tomorrow, and my official entry into the world of Google Glass, as an "Explorer", and I am getting excited. Their reminder/checklist (above) received via email earlier was much appreciated and didn't seem to present any big obstacles, except the first one which was treading on some new ground for me. (I've had GMail and Google+ accounts since the early days of each.)

I've always been intrigued with tethering, but had never implemented it. So now I have, along with the chance to completely retool my voice/data plan for all our mobile devices. Therefore, I figure I am already ahead, even before getting my Glass!

My newest blog - Welcome to Glass Half Full

I am little more than 24 hours away from boarding the plane to fly to San Francisco, where I will pick up my Google Glass unit at the Google office in the city.

Follow along here for the adventures of a Baby Boom-generation Google Glass Explorer!