Last but not least: Brave new world

The repeatedly postponed market launch of Google Glass, the search engine giant's glasses equipped with a mini-computer, appears to be becoming reality. While the launch in America is scheduled for April 2014, the intelligent eyeglasses should also be available in Europe in the first half of this year. Three questions come to mind.

Firstly, how can this thing be reconciled with data protection? We haven't exactly been spoiled from overseas lately anyway when it comes to protecting our privacy. The combination of Google Glass's capabilities and the company's market power raises unease. Or as journalist Andrew Keen put it, "Neither Orwell nor Hitchcock could have dreamed up Google Glass in their most terrifying dystopias." A device that records and analyzes the user's surroundings and sends the data to Google - it's not just data protectionists who have their hackles up.

Secondly, will Google still adapt the design at launch or will potential buyers have to jump over the shadow of aesthetics? There has been a lot of writing and discussion about who should be wearing the thing in the first place. Or how the designer Marc Newson recently summed up the problem: "It looks stupid." In order to prove the long-awaited opposite, the Tumblr blog recently "People who look cool wearing Google Glass" launched. Whereby... never mind.

Third, do we really need Google Glass? Similar to smartwatches, it seems that the need required for the breakthrough has yet to be created. Advertising and marketing will do their utmost. Until that time comes, the competition will laugh derisively at the supposed enrichment of our society. For example, the American First Bank. "Get back to the real world," it says at the end. By the way, this refers to the company's e-banking app. Brave new world. (hae)