A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of receiving an invitation from His Royal Highness Prince Andrew to attend an event at St Jame's Palace where a number of start-ups would be presenting their stories. Probably short of a bob or too, he used his Mother’s franking machine. Nice to have a Buck House postmark though.
The venue was typically lavish and did not disappoint - they even had red carpet in the toilets. The great and the good were all there and the event was very busy and well attended.
In strolled Eze Vidra, Head of Google Entrepreneurs. He was wearing a strange pair of glasses. I generally notice glasses as they are one of my passions - and these were pretty unusual. As he got closer I could tell that they were in fact a pair (if indeed that is the right word) of the new Google Glass. Eze was busy and we did not get the chance to speak but I noticed that a few other people were also wearing these strange frames.
Later that evening I found myself face to face with a group of gentlemen from a start up, I think it was called OK Yah, but they didn't have cards. Apparently they develop apps for the Google Glass and one of them was wearing some himself.
I have to say that it was a most unusual feeling being confronted by these all-seeing spectacles, I felt slightly violated. "Do I need to tell you who I am," I said, "Or do you already know?"
"They are switched off."came the reply.
"Would I be able to tell of they were switched on?" I asked. He pressed a button on the side of the glasses resulting in a ghostly blue flicker. I don't know what he saw but he switched them off again pretty quickly.
I mentioned this new accessory to another Google person I bumped into. I wondered if they were planning some sort of retro fit as I would struggle with just one frame given my obsessive spectacle habit. It seems they might be. "Eze doesn't like wearing them," she said. "He's worried they make him look like a glasshole!”
I’m taking bets on how long it is before this ends up in the Oxford Dictionary.
