Seattle dive bar becomes first to ban Google Glass

Cnet ^ | 3-8-2013 | Casey Newton

[JOAT]

Owner says "it's because it's kind of a private place that people go." Will other businesses follow?

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.

Update: A Google spokesperson responds: "It is still very early days for Glass, and we expect that as with other new technologies, such as cell phones, behaviors and social norms will develop over time."

[JOAT]

Can you imagine what this will morph into? Dorks submerged in fantasy world walking into you, Pervs viddy capturing various body parts..etc.

Yeah, kill them in public settings, at least from a social perspective.

[bigbob]

yes, I can...

[edcoil]

I would think someone that could afford then glasses would not be in that dive bar anyway.

[rudabaga]

I love that bar! It’s a very good dive bar and I applaud them. I am in Seattle for awhile right now and I have already seen those glasses on the street, people here will have them because of the tech industry. I agree with him, I don’t want some idiot filming everything and posting it to facebook. Google glasses is going to be a nightmare.

[dfwgator]

This will not end well.

[rudabaga]

They will be there. Half the people in Seattle work for Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon and Starbucks. It’s a wealthy town.

[1rudeboy]

Because watching video of patrons in upscale places is more entertaining? Think again.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

I’m glad I grew out of my wild stage before everybody had a camera on them.

[stormer]

The 5 Point is by no means a “dive bar”. I’ve been there many times and while it isn’t exactly upscale, it’s not a place that’s even marginally threatening. It’s basically hipsters pretending they’re in some gritty urban joint...

[N. Theknow]

. "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."

Sometimes you want to go, where nobody knows your name. Un-Cheers!

A man walked into a bar, sat down, and ordered a beer. As he sipped the beer, he heard a voice say, “Nice tie.” Looking around, he saw that the bar was empty except for him and the bartender. A few sips later, another voice said, “Beautiful shirt.” At this, the man calls the bartender over. “Say, I must be losing my mind,” he tells him. “I keep hearing these voices say nice things, and there is not a soul in here but us.” “It’s the peanuts,” explains the bartender, indicating a dish on the bar. “The peanuts?” “That’s right, the peanuts–they’re complementary.”

[Atlas Sneezed]

BRILLIANT PR!

[KrisKrinkle]

A Google spokesperson responds: "It is still very early days for Glass, and we expect that as with other new technologies, such as cell phones, behaviors and social norms will develop over time."

That strikes me as a statement of the problem.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

I imagine that the last image, in many of the "Google Glass" recordings posted to the net, will look something like this:

[aimhigh]

My concern is people driving while wearing these things.

[chrisser]

The tech side of me appreciates the gee-wiz aspect of Google glasses.

But I don't think some of these people have thought the whole thing through. Do we all really want the minutiae of our daily lives to not only be public, but broadcast for widespread consumption? What's the supposed benefit and how does it compare against the costs?

Sure, it's really cool when you're the lone geek with the preproduction model. It's going to be an entirely different situation when every schmo has one too, and you can't even make an otherwise discrete scratch, adjustment or foible without seeing it on Youtube that afternoon from six different perspectives. But by then, it'll be too late to put the toothpaste back in the tube.