Media Poke Fun at Brin's 'emasculating' Comment

(Image source: TED) BY NICHOLE CARTMELL ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin has described using a cell phone as emasculating. A little confused? So were many media -- who are now poking fun at the comment. Gizmodo’s headline: “Sergey Brin thinks your smartphone is for girls.” And Wired leads with, “Google Glass will make you manly...” To explain -- it seems Google Glass is Brin’s solution. At a TED conference on Tuesday, he argued smartphones disconnect us from the world around us. Instead, of interacting with our peers, our mobile phone requires us to look down to get information. He asked... “Is the future of connection just people walking around hunched up, looking down, rubbing a featureless piece of glass? [and he goes on to say] ‘It’s kind of emasculating. Is this what you’re meant to do with your body?’“ For Brin the future is Google Glass, where information would come to you as you need it--a vision he’s had for the past 15 years. Since then, Google has developed a device that combines eye-wear with your cell phone. At first, it wasn’t the most comfortable or attractive piece of technology. But today, Brin says the company has made significant strides, particularly in having a camera ready the minute you need it. (Video Via: Google) Well, we still aren’t quite sure what’s so “emasculating” about a smartphone, but the head-down, isolation thing does make sense. Yet, a writer for Wired suggests Glass might be much of an improvement. “Hopefully not too many conversations fall dead as one party becomes immersed in highly targeted information overlaid onto their view of the other person. Surely losing your friend’s eye contact halfway through a sentence would be emasculating and socially isolating in its own way.” And Gizmodo argues -- Google Glass just doesn’t seem that cool ... or different. “... it's hard to imagine Google Glass, Brin's obvious foil to the standard smartphone, as anything remotely virile: it's a hugely dorky face accessory that has to be delicately spoken to or—yep!—rubbed in order to function.” For those who still want to give the device a try, Google Glass will hit the market later this year. And the price tag? Brin says it will fall somewhere below $1,500.