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Google executives were a bit red-faced yesterday after they were forced to disqualify a few crazy entrants in a contest for a chance to buy its $1,500 high-tech Google Glass.
The highly coveted tech spectacles won’t go on sale to the general public until later this year, and Google hoped that the early users would help it refine the gadget before its widespread release.
Those tossed out of the winners’ circle were found, on second thought, to have submissions that were lacking — to say the least.
A few of the nearly 8,000 winners wound up violating contest guidelines with submissions like: “#ifihadglass I’d throw it at your face.”
Another winner was going to use Google Glass “to cut” someone.
The Mountain View, Calif., company had asked entrants to submit ideas on how they would use the product.
After getting a “you’re invited” message from Google, some entrants started becoming disqualified.
“It’s become clear that a few applications that don’t comply with our terms have slipped through the cracks, and we’re going to have to disqualify applications like these,” Google’s Project Glass team said in an online post.
It was unclear how the seemingly joking submissions won. Google said that an outside company ran the judging, but there was plenty of speculation that winners seemed to be picked at random.
Still, most contest winners had idealistic visions for using the Google goggles.
A Georgia firefighter said he would use the glasses to improve safety on the job. Another winner said she would use the glasses at veterans’ hospitals.
Other people were trying to figure out how they were going to pay for not only the travel but also the $1,500 Google Glass price now that they’ve won.
Alex Etling, a New York City actor, started an online fundraising campaign through inidiegogo.com.