But Google Glass did not liberate people. It didn’t make them freer. It didn’t help them become individuals. Why did people roll their eyes at (or even punch) people wearing Google Glass? Not just because it looked ridiculous. Because it promised to be just another way to rob people of their individuality. It threatened them with yet another demand for mind-numbing conformity. Better not speak out! Better not express yourself! Maybe the Glasshole’s recording you!
Patching into another three hours of meetings in your self-driving car on your augmented reality headset so you can spend even more time getting yelled at by your boss? That’s not freedom. That’s repression. Self-chosen. Which, of course, is the most pernicious kind.
I like to think Glass was the first real sign of the general public truly being uncomfortable with the invasive nature of Google and information hoarding technology. That we do, like you say, want technology to progress culture and free us more from our conformist and largely capitalist reality; where we were before comfortable with what Google has done before because of the world of knowledge provided by that at a cost of some privacy and data going to a corporation, Glass was primarily a step into our lives and data without much providing the extra knowledge or freedom, or an advancement in technology or culture.
Do you (Hubski) technology-- as a whole, but in this case, the internet, smartphones, global inter-connectivity, "big data"-- make us happier or unhappier, and would we be better or worse off without it? Does modern tech promote freedom or limit it though, or is it a neutral? I believe I do things less that I want to because of the technology I waste time on, but at the same time, I know far more about the world and have my opinions shaped so deeply and on so many topics that I would not have if it were not for these very same things. Not to mention on a less important level, my whole career built around them. Would the world be better if the internet did not exist?