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I don't know, that first iPhone was pretty special. Just having a fantastic web browser (mobile Safari) was a game changer. The gap feels bigger with VR, to me.

dmix 10y ago
Pre-app store iPhones? (and all of the software that it massively incentivized?) Or just the phones themselves?
rictic 10y ago
Agreed that the first iPhone was special, it let me move across the country without knowing a soul for two thousand miles with confidence. The limitations were obvious though. The small screen and low resolution made it hard to read much text. It was really slow, both in processor and in its 2G connection. And it was clear that there was a lot of work to be done on the software and design technology side. The Vive feels pretty special to me too. Presence, that feeling of being in another place, a fictional place with fictional rules. Perceptually perfect hand and head tracking. The chaperone system to let you move around the room with confidence. The limitations are obvious: high system reqs, cords everywhere, low resolution, flaky software, and again we need to question a lot of our assumptions about the kind of software that we write. All of that's being aggressively engineered away. I'm bullish.
- JBlue42 10y ago
  >Agreed that the first iPhone was special, it let me move across the country without knowing a soul for two thousand miles with confidence. What was your alternative way to move across the country?
  - ENGNR 10y ago
    There used to be a weird merge between google maps and 2D printing
    - JBlue42 10y ago
      There was also that old man Rand McNally. Or stopping somewhere and asking for directions. I think you might've managed fine without the iPhone. It's nice to get accurate directions when you really, really need it. There's also something to be said for getting lost or wandering every now and then.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
kalleboo 10y ago
The first iPhone cost $600 after subsidy, you had to wait for pages to load forever over EDGE, and it had literally no software. Seems like a decent analogy of current VR. Before the iPhone, nobody had any idea what improvement on the smartphone would be required to get them in the hands of everyone. All anyone could say was "a smartphone isn't for everyone". With VR, just in this thread half the people are saying "I just hated the resolution, lack of portability and software", similarly specific objections like people had with the initial iPhone. I actually had the opposite experience to you. The first iPhone wasn't very special to me. "So what, it accomplishes everything my current phone does, only with pinch zoom". My first Oculus dev kit experience, terrible 720p display and all was captivating.

dmix 10y ago

Pre-app store iPhones? (and all of the software that it massively incentivized?) Or just the phones themselves?

rictic 10y ago

Agreed that the first iPhone was special, it let me move across the country without knowing a soul for two thousand miles with confidence. The limitations were obvious though. The small screen and low resolution made it hard to read much text. It was really slow, both in processor and in its 2G connection. And it was clear that there was a lot of work to be done on the software and design technology side. The Vive feels pretty special to me too. Presence, that feeling of being in another place, a fictional place with fictional rules. Perceptually perfect hand and head tracking. The chaperone system to let you move around the room with confidence. The limitations are obvious: high system reqs, cords everywhere, low resolution, flaky software, and again we need to question a lot of our assumptions about the kind of software that we write. All of that's being aggressively engineered away. I'm bullish.

JBlue42 10y ago
>Agreed that the first iPhone was special, it let me move across the country without knowing a soul for two thousand miles with confidence. What was your alternative way to move across the country?
- ENGNR 10y ago
  There used to be a weird merge between google maps and 2D printing
  - JBlue42 10y ago
    There was also that old man Rand McNally. Or stopping somewhere and asking for directions. I think you might've managed fine without the iPhone. It's nice to get accurate directions when you really, really need it. There's also something to be said for getting lost or wandering every now and then.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

kalleboo 10y ago

The first iPhone cost $600 after subsidy, you had to wait for pages to load forever over EDGE, and it had literally no software. Seems like a decent analogy of current VR. Before the iPhone, nobody had any idea what improvement on the smartphone would be required to get them in the hands of everyone. All anyone could say was "a smartphone isn't for everyone". With VR, just in this thread half the people are saying "I just hated the resolution, lack of portability and software", similarly specific objections like people had with the initial iPhone. I actually had the opposite experience to you. The first iPhone wasn't very special to me. "So what, it accomplishes everything my current phone does, only with pinch zoom". My first Oculus dev kit experience, terrible 720p display and all was captivating.