Random Seattle bar bans Google Glass

[Eri]

Google Glass won't be available to consumers for months, but there's at least one Seattle bar where the eyewear will not be welcome.

The 5 Point, a self-described dive bar in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, posted a notice to its Facebook page this week telling Glass Explorers looking to grab a pint that they will need to remove their $1,500 spectacles. The story was noted today on GeekWire.

"For the record, The 5 Point is the first Seattle business to ban in advance Google Glasses," the post reads. "And ass kickings will be encouraged for violators."

"I'm a thought leader," deadpanned Dave Meinert, the bar's owner, in an interview on Seattle's KIRO-FM. "First you have to understand the culture of the 5 Point, which is a sometimes seedy, maybe notorious place. People want to go there and be not known...and definitely don't want to be secretly filmed or videotaped and immediately put on the Internet."

Meinert admitted he was having a bit of fun: "Part of this is a joke, to be funny on Facebook, and get reaction."

"But part of it's serious," he continued, "because we don't let people film other people or take photos unwanted of people in the bar, because it is kind of a private place that people go." (To listen to the complete interview with Meinert, click here.)

Seattle is a famously tech-savvy town, of course, and the 5 Point sits close to a new Amazon campus. But it's that same tech savvy that's leading business owners like Meinert to consider the implications of having customers with face-mounted cameras, snapping pictures of a diverse and sometimes intoxicated clientele.

It's safe to assume the 5 Point won't be the last establishment to tell customers to leave Glass at the door.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57573387-93/seattle-dive-bar-becomes-first-to-ban-google-glass/

While it might work for now and be his prerogative, it is kind of dumb.

Technology will eventually reach a point where someone who has lost an eye will have it replaced with one that is basically a camera that sends images to a hard drive which then sends them to the brain. Are you gonna deny that person service because you have no idea if they may or may not be recording you?

As far as public spaces go (in US), People have been citing privacy concerns over Glass that really have no basis. You have no right to privacy in public, and no one has to have your permission to photograph or record you in public. (Using said footage for anything but personal use is another story)

 

[JoJo]

I can see them being banned from places like schools and changing rooms for obvious reasons but I doubt many other places would bother, people can see you in public and a camera mounted on glasses is no different to that on a phone, where you may not be able to tell if you are being filmed either.

 

[Genocidicles]

People in the US don't realize how much Big Brother is watching us already. In Las Vegas practically every square foot is under the scrutiny of video cameras. It's even worse in Europe, I understand.

People don't like being watched and taped by strangers 24-7...even if it's happening all the time these days.

"What do you mean you have incriminating proof that I picked my nose and picked my underwear out of my butt? How dare you?!?"

Being monitored by the Government is one thing, but I don't want to fall over and split my trousers or something and then find it posted all over the internet for everyone to laugh at.

I know that could be captured on a phone, but unless someone can predict the future chances are they wouldn't have their phone out and on the record setting beforehand.

 

[DoPo]

I know that could be captured on a phone, but unless someone can predict the future chances are they wouldn't have their phone out and on the record setting beforehand.

Well, there is this website called "YouTube". It's a really niche thing but people upload videos there. And I think I've seen several that caught an unexpected shocking and/or embarrassing thing on camera. Also something you can look into - that other niche website called "Failblog".

EDIT: Wait what? I posted AFTER Copper Zen, why did my post come up before? Hey, somebody screwing with the clocks?

 

[Basement Cat]

People in the US don't realize how much Big Brother is watching us already. In Las Vegas practically every square foot is under the scrutiny of video cameras. It's even worse in Europe, I understand.

People don't like being watched and taped by strangers 24-7...even if it's happening all the time these days.

"What do you mean you have incriminating proof that I picked my nose and picked my underwear out of my butt? How dare you?!?"
********************
WTF?!?!? How did the above comment get repeated???

I didn't post again! I just got a message in my box and hit it to come here--HOW DID IT TURN AROUND AND RE-POST MY ORIGINAL COMMENT?

It's the Captcha, isn't it? The Captcha's never forgiven me for joining the PubClub and no longer having access to me.

Dirty, stinking Captcha!

EDIT: And now my post is the third response rather than the first?

I am EVIL!!!

JOJO!!!

 

[DoPo]

And now my post is the third response rather than the first?

You're slipping badly. I mean, that post is on number 5 now. I'm mostly wandering if it'd go lower when I post this.

EDIT: it didn't. Weird.

EDIT 2: Wait...is it daylight savings time? That might be why it happened. But why isn't my clock automatically adjusted if that's the case?

EDIT 3: Got it - it is daylight savings. But in the US.

 

[Batou667]

I can see how it could make people uncomfortable. Imagine you were at a bar and the guy across the room had a camera pointed at you and your friends. "Oh, don't worry, it's turned off" he says. Does that put your mind at ease?

I live in London, the most heavily monitored and recorded place on the planet. But that doesn't really bother me as I can take consolation in the fact that I'm just one innocuous face in the crowd, and also the fact that whoever is doing the recording probably has no especial interest in me individually. Hell, unless there's some incident that I happen to be present at, there's a good chance that footage of me will never be seen by human eyes.

In a more candid and supposedly relaxed setting, and with the recording equipment in the hands of my dubious fellow man, I'd feel a lot less comfortable. I'd rather my ugly mug didn't end up splashed over the internet. Or as "Mr April" on some creepy dude's desktop background, for that matter.

 

[Dryk]

If people want to record other people at his bar they won't be doing it with cameras he can see. It's trivial to get a matchbox-sized camera nowadays

 

[CPunchMaster]

Interesting. I can see both sides of the argument. I only like the ban because I'm already tired of people treating social gatherings like more smartphone time. This kind of stuff will only make it worse, I'm sure.

 

[micahrp]

Why act in public in a way you wouldn't want your grandmother, employer, future spouse or the whole world to see?

The bar owner cited some sleazy actions being taken at his bar and he wants to encourage that by trying to keep the acts from being publicly displayed. How about making the club a private members only place with privacy rules?

My belief is "Be one person, not two+ faced", but that takes defining some principles, implementing self-control and all those things we used to call being mature.

 

[Batou667]

Why act in public in a way you wouldn't want your grandmother, employer, future spouse or the whole world to see?

Are you serious? You constantly conduct yourself in a way your boss and/or grandmother would approve of?

You must be the life and soul of the knitting circle.

 

[Jordi]

I'm generally pro-technology, but I can really see this guy's point. I'm not a huge fan of the sentiment that "in public you have no right to privacy", but this isn't even "in public". It's an establishment that is privately owned by this guy and he has every right to establish house rules.

Yes, if someone uses a hidden camera, he might not be able to enforce his policy, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't try to deal with more obvious transgressions. Furthermore, it might also be about the perception of his clientele. With Google Glass, they might worry they're being recorded even if they're not (even if it wouldn't work) and stay away, but with a hidden camera they wouldn't notice and still keep coming (until something actually gets posted on Facebook/YouTube). With a camera(phone) it's generally easier to tell when someone is taking a picture and this bar apparently forbids that as well. Perhaps if Google put a bright light on their glasses to indicate that it's recording, issues like these would be diminished.

People are more comfortable with security cameras (although I don't know if this bar has them), because they 1) get some extra security out of them and 2) will only potentially get watched by a very select group of people who will handle it responsibly, and often only if there is a very good reason for it (i.e. a crime happened). That's a bit different than some jackass posting something embarrassing you did on the internet (completely out of context) for the whole world to point and laugh at.

 

[JoJo]

EDIT: And now my post is the third response rather than the first?

I am EVIL!!!

JOJO!!!

Haha, my time-machine scheme worked! Now time to go back to 2012 and make myself the leading forum celebrity, watch out Daystar and Fappy!

 

[Pinkamena]

I'm sure this won't be the only place that'll ban the Google Glass. There's a lot of places where you don't exactly want people to go around filming!