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The price of nothing

Back in the old days, things were simple.

If you bought a book or a "record" (those old black disks made from acetate or vinyl), it was yours to keep, resell, give away or destroy as saw fit.

Today however, in this virtual world, handing over money to purchase something often gives you "nothing" in return.

Instead of a physical object you can cosset, cherish and (if desired) sell on to some other person when you've tired of it, all you get are some very, very limited "rights".

And now it's starting to look as if those "rights" will extend beyond the virtual into the physical world -- if Google has anything to do with it.

What am I talking about?

Well I'm talking about Google Glass, the fancy new piece of eyeware that, the company hopes, will change the world.

Now you'd think that if you'd handed over a sizable chunk of cash for one of these heads-up displays, it would be yours -- to do with as you please.

Well according to reports on the wires today, that simply isn't the case at all.

Apparently the "terms of service" associated with these devices state:

"you may not resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person. If you resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person without Google’s authorization, Google reserves the right to deactivate the device, and neither you nor the unauthorized person using the device will be entitled to any refund, product support, or product warranty".

Now that's pretty harsh!

Imagine if you bought a brand new car and it came with those terms and conditions -- wouldn't you be outraged?

Of course the chances are that these restrictive T&C on Google Glass will only apply to the early adopters who are buying a limited number of these devices (at US$1,500 each) for the purposes of developing apps for them.

But Google has not confirmed that this is the case and still refuses to clearly state that when they hit "mass production" status, users won't be free to resell, lend, hire or give away their Glass without expressed permission.

With companies such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft et al, all pushing customers to get onboard their clouds, consumers now face a very real risk of losing absolute control of the hardware they use to access such services. What better way to leverage the sales of Google Glass by tying it to a cloud service and then disabling that service for a particular device if/when the customer decides to sell or give away the product.

I can envisage a "reglazing" service from Google where, for a princely sum, you *will* be able to pass your Glass on to someone else -- but it will only be reactivated once you or they pay that "reglazing" fee.

It's a great way to ensure ongoing revenues from what would otherwise have been a single sale.

Could this be the thin end of a nasty wedge that will see physical products being delivered with "virtual ownership" rights?

Will manufacturers and service providers give themselves the rights to disable your fancy electronic gadgets if and when they please -- so as to ensure ongoing revenues?

One can't help but wonder - and be worried.

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