Another Google Glass Wearer Attacked in San Francisco

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Image: Mashable

By Adario Strange2014-04-14 00:51:27 UTC

The perils of wearing Google Glass became apparent yet again when a man wearing the device was attacked on the streets of San Francisco on Friday.

Kyle Russell, a 20-year-old journalist, was wrapping up a day of covering the local Google protests and on his way to the 16th Street BART train station when a woman yelled out "Glass!" and snatched the device off his face.

See also: When Google Glass Haters Attack

Russell and his friend gave chase, the trio running in and out of traffic, but the woman ultimately got away, smashing the device on the ground before making her escape.

"The tone of how she yelled 'Glass!' and the way she smashed Glass gave me the impression that its destruction was her intention," Russell told Mashable when asked if he thought the woman only intended to steal the device rather than just break it. "But my interpretation could be skewed by my place in the incident."

However, for those who might draw connections between Friday's Google protesters and the would-be Glass thief, Russell himself doesn't seem to think she was connected with the protest group.

Describing the woman as in her early 20s, Russell says the woman had a faux-hawk with the sides of her head shaved and wore a black leather jacket and boots. "That's not really how I'd describe anyone in the crowd at the protest I was at earlier that day, and she was walking from the opposite direction of the protestors' march," says Russell.

Testing the $1,500 device after the incident, Russell said it now offers "no response to voice or touch," and is basically "unusable."

A photo of Kyle Russell's damaged Google Glass device after his attack in San Francisco.

Image: Kyle Russell

This latest anecdote could just be a random mugging attempt, or it may be yet another signal highlighting the growing tensions between San Francisco's tech haves and have-nots.

"I'm not an SF resident," says Russell. "I live in Berkeley and work in San Francisco. With that said, I do think that Google Glass, Google buses, and gentrification have all come to be associated in the minds of many residents in the city. There's a reason the protestors on Friday were carrying signs that said 'Tech = Death' and asking Google to step in."

This latest attack on a Google Glass wearer follows the incident reported by Sarah Slocum, also in San Francisco, back in February.

Russell offered a full account of his ordeal in a story on Business Insider.

As of this writing, the authorities had still not gotten back to him with any updates regarding the police report he filed following the incident.

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Topics: Gadgets, glass, Google Glass, Google Glass, google protests, Mobile, San Francisco-San Jose, Silicon Valley, Tech