Stolen from tech writer, Google Glass dutifully records the suspect

A woman wearing a Google Glass walks into a bar. Then the punchline for this setup evaporated when someone stole her Glass — which recorded her alleged assailants.

Tech writer Sarah Slocom was in the punk rock bar Molotov’s in San Francisco’s famed Haight-Ashbury district on Friday night. As she was demonstrating Glass to some bar compatriots, she was confronted by two women, after which a man took the $1,500 accessory from her face. As she reported on Facebook:

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“OMG so you’ll never believe this but… I got verbally and physically asaulted [sic] and robbed last night in the city, had things thrown at me because of some wanker Google Glass haters, then some *bleeeeeeeeeep* tore them off my face and ran out with them then and when I ran out after him his *bleeeeeeep* friends stole my purse, cellphone walet [sic] and everything..”

According to witnesses, she got her Glass back, but not her purse, wallet, or phone. On Facebook, Slocum said she had “started recording them to protect myself,” taking footage of the alleged thief. She has filed a report with the police, and fortunately has not reported any injuries.

San Francisco’s KPIX5 TV reported that, at first, several people watching her demonstration were friendly, but others became agitated by the possibility of being recorded. The station said a man insulted her, another man accompanying her issued some fisticuffs at the insulter, the small crowd started jeering, and Slocum was recording.

One bar patron, Brian Lester, told the station that some people were “just rather insulted that someone thinks it’s OK to record them the entire time they’re in public.” Another bystander, Brian, described Molotov’s as “not really Google Glass country.”

Some San Francisco-watchers have pegged this incident as indicative of the growing tensions between tech workers and the working class in the city.

Regardless, Google may want to add several dos and don’ts to its growing list of recommended and to-be-avoided Glass behaviors:

• Until the price drops from its current $1,500 price tag, do not demo Glass in a bar called Molotov’s. Similarly, skip cars while you’re driving them and movie theaters.
• If you are a would-be thief and/or assailant, do notice that you might want to select something/someone that is not recording you. (Reference: Strange Days.)
• Do watch the expected Law and Order episode where a Glass-wearing participant tests our understanding of how crime and punishment is supposed to work.