Do you know what I haven’t seen in over a year? The interior of a pub. Or a bar. Or, in fact, any type of inn, inn, saloon, roadhouse, tavern, tavern or brewery where the money can be exchanged for the sweet relief of the drink. Google, however, did not forget and apparently decided to insult me with a new tag in its photo app dedicated to these things.
As first seen by 9to5Google, if you open the Google Photos app now, there should be a new collection of memories at the top of the screen. These are thematic groupings of photos selected by machine learning, and although the previous collections focused on children or food, this one – appropriately titled “Cheers! – is dedicated to drinking.
Click on the image and you will see a bittersweet slide show: photos of drinks being drunk with friends and loved ones. Paraphrase Mad MenFamous Carousel scene, here is the essence of nostalgia, taking us to a place where we yearn to return. The pub.
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A little caveat: when Border employees searched for “Cheers!” collection in their own application, not everyone found it. And those who did noticed that the software doesn’t always capture all the relevant images of the pitchers. (Maybe you’re a picky drinker? I can’t relate.)
Either way, it’s another cool demonstration of the power of Google’s camera-learning photo tools, as well as a cruel reminder of what most of us are missing out on right now. And please, if you’re in a country where pubs and bars are open, where you can just walk out the door and grab a beer in the sun, I to beg you: shut up and don’t talk to me.