According to reports, it looks like Google is attempting to stop legislation that would mark Google Glass as a hazard to driving. Elected officials in Delaware, Illinois, and Missouri have allegedly been contacted by Google, who claims that it isn’t necessary to restrict Google Glass use by drivers as the technology is still in its infancy, and not widely available to the public.
Google can protest all it wants, but the fact is, the technology is headed towards wider release. Then things will get very interesting. Illinois state Senator Ira Silverstein introduced the anti-Google Glass bill in December, and has responded to Google’s statement saying only “who are they fooling?” Silverstein told Reuters that he had recently met with Google lobbyists about the issue.
Google released a statement regarding the measure saying “we think it is important to be part of those discussions.” It also claimed that “While Glass is currently in the hands of a small group of Explorers,” the company said, “we find that when people try it for themselves they better understand the underlying principle that it’s not meant to distract but rather connect people more with the world around them.”
That is true, but it is also true that it could be a distraction. I would say that it is not so much the technology that folks don’t trust, but rather the users wearing it.
“I’m not against Google or Google Glass. It may have a place in society,” said Delaware state representative Joseph Miro, primary sponsor of a bill banning texting while driving and Google Glass while driving. “My issue is that while you are driving, you should have nothing that is going to impede the concentration of the driver.”
Google will probably get its way in the end by throwing money at certain people. Both sides have a point. What do you guys think?
Source Electronista
