Detailed on the Facebook page of The 5 Point Cafe, the Seattle-based diner and bar posted a negative illustration of Google Glass and indicated that anyone visiting The 5 Point Cafe while wearing the high tech glasses will be removed from the premises. Specifically, the message posted along with the illustration stated “For the record, The 5 Point is the first Seattle business to ban in advance Google Glasses. And ass kickings will be encouraged for violators.” Visitors to The 5 Point Cafe could simply remove the glasses before entering in order to avoid an altercation.
In an interview on the Luke Burbank Show, the owner of the The 5 Point Cafe indicated that privacy of customers was the main reason behind banning the advanced technology from the establishment. Owner Dave Meinert said “First you have to understand the culture of the 5 Point, which is a sometimes seedy, maybe notorious place. People want to go there and be not known … and definitely don’t want to be secretly filmed or videotaped and immediately put on the Internet.”
The location of The 5 Point Cafe is near the new Amazon campus in Seattle, hence the preemptive strike before Google Glass becomes widely available to the tech community. Meinert admitted the original post was a bit of a joke, but still doesn’t want video or photos of his customers being uploaded to the Internet using the glasses. However, anyone with a smartphone could accomplish the same feat.
With a potential holiday 2013 release looming for Google Glass, it’s possible that more businesses will follow the lead of The 5 Point Cafe and place bans on the device prior to launch. However, the hefty $1,500 price tag of the device will likely limit the total number of units sold during the busy shopping season. Hypothetically, retail establishments that wish to provide advanced interactivity with customers wearing Google Glass could end up encouraging use of the product while browsing through a store.
