A brilliant piece of reporting

[G+_George Kozi]

A brilliant piece of reporting. 

Reporting as tech reporting should be. 

Take note tech writers. This is how it should be done.

 

Originally shared by Allen “Prisoner” Firstenberg

 

Going Glass #io13   #throughglass  

 

Although not entirely dedicated to Glass, there were four sessions about Project Glass. All of them packed to the gills (and beyond). It was clear the audience was clamoring to hear more, and even people who knew about it were treated to some additional bits of information - most notably, the Glass Development Kit (GDK) was announced... although they're clearly still working on it and welcoming feedback from the community about what shape it should take.

 

Clearly, Glass is trying to take a careful middle ground here. The Mirror API reflects the simplicity of the UX that they're striving for with the device. But there is a strong desire to have more access to some of the sensors, and they understand that. I talked to several of the engineers about my concerns about what the GDK might do, and I'm eager to see how they navigate their way through these different sides to a solution.

 

I wasn't able to get into the fireside chat session with the top Glas folks, but I was thrilled to meet Isabelle Olsson and several others afterwards at the sandbox, and then later on at an awesome party. One of the awesome things about I/O is just being able to talk to people - both about the specific projects you're working on with them and just about general topics that are part of all our lives.

 

But there was more than Glass. The morning actually kicked off with an appearance by Vic Gundotra at the Google Developers Group lounge where he thanked all the GDG and GDE volunteers for their work and answered questions from the crowd. Vic created the developer support groups when he was at Microsoft, and it was clear while he was talking that this community is one that is close to his heart. (Actually, the morning kicked off with me learning they were out of LTE Pixels, so they would ship me one in about a month. I waited 10 months for Glass... I can wait a bit for Pixel.)

 

I also stopped by various sandbox areas, learning a bit more about what is going on (and what isn't) with Play for Education, changes in Drive and Apps Script, and my awesome friends at Google+.

 

My biggest issue, however, were with the sessions. As I mentioned, the Glass ones were totally packed, and so were a few others that I attended. Doesn't make for a great experience. Even worse, however, was how difficult it was to figure out what I wanted to attend - I skipped at least one session because it was listed on the board, but not my app, so I didn't really know what it was about. Only later did I learn that it might have been useful. But thats ok - I'm increasingly realizing that the sandbox experiences are really the big thing at I/O, and the sessions are recorded.

 

I say it over and over again... the people are what make I/O. The presenters, the Googlers at the help desks, the people you run into while on the escalator, all the participants, and even the non-participants who join in for the after-hours parties. I really can't emphasize enough how I/O helps create the teams that continue long after the conference is over.

[G+_Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ]

Good to know there's only one acceptable way to report tech news. ;-)

[G+_George Kozi]

Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ  yes. The one that appeals to people. :)

 

I think cynicism has permeated some parts of tech reporting. One notices it more on a slow news day, when the reporter has to deliver a piece, no matter what.