3 ms·

When you say “the one FB is working on” - the stated goal is for there to be one Metaverse, as there is one Internet. Of course that requires protocol interop

When you say “the one FB is working on” - the stated goal is for there to be one Metaverse, as there is one Internet. Of course that requires protocol interop (as did the Internet with TCP/IP and HTTP) and who knows if it will happen for the Metaverse.

kibwen 5y ago
Metaverses are less fundamental than the internet, and there's no need for there to be exactly one of them (other than lucrative proprietary lock-in, anyway). Metaverses are application-level concerns, and will be built on top of the existing internet infrastructure. In the same way that a web browser is a portal to HTTP content, a metaverse application will be a portal to whatever application-level protocols arise to support them.
- wmf 5y ago
  Metaverses are application-level concerns I'm pretty sure that's not how they see it. I think the vision is of the singular Metaverse as the new narrow waist upon which all future apps are built.
  - kibwen 5y ago
    Yes, and that's why it's an application level concern. A metaverse like they envision is a platform for the discovery of applications created according to certain standards, just like a web browser, and just like an app store. It's in every big player's interest to delude you into believing that there's only going to be one metaverse, and in particular that it's going to be theirs, but we have no more reason to believe these claims than we have reason to believe that there will ever be exactly one software platform in any other context. It's just a VR-focused app platform.
dagmx 5y ago
Have either Tim Sweeney or Mark Zuckerberg said that there's plans for only a single metaverse? I think it's been pretty clear that they're going to work on their own metaverse products. Epic seems to build on Fortnite , while Meta have Horizon. I don't believe either have stated compatibility as a goal.
- wmf 5y ago
  They're each going to build their own metaverse and they're planning for that to be the one and only metaverse. They're planning to kill each other.
  - dagmx 5y ago
    Yeah that's totally what I expect, which is why I'm confused why the person I replied to seems to believe there'll be a single one. I know that the Web 3.0 Cryptocurrency crowd have ideas on the idea of a decentralized web with a shared ontological understanding, so maybe that's the source of the idea of there being a single metaverse? But neither Epic nor Meta seem interested in a shared ecosystem. The metaverse is a product and their implementations will compete. I'm not sure if people would even want to be in two separate metaverses so competition will be fierce. Most media (books/movie) sidestep that by usually having a single metaverse creator. That's in large part because it's narratively easier to deal with a single villain and universe. I don't know of any that posit having competing offerings.
    - cma 5y ago
      Sweeney laid out his vision here, in 2016 before Fortnite launched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG9-6k3RYIU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG9-6k3RYIU
    - wmf 5y ago
      Agreed. You can have Facebook and Twitter open in two browser tabs and switch between them, but will Facebook and Epic even support the same headset? How much hassle would it be to log out of one and log in to the other? I think they literally want to monopolize your face.
- theptip 5y ago
  Yes, Zuck discussed this with Ben Thompson for example: https://stratechery.com/2021/an-interview-with-mark-zuckerberg-about-the-metaverse/ https://stratechery.com/2021/an-interview-with-mark-zuckerbe...

kibwen 5y ago

Metaverses are less fundamental than the internet, and there's no need for there to be exactly one of them (other than lucrative proprietary lock-in, anyway). Metaverses are application-level concerns, and will be built on top of the existing internet infrastructure. In the same way that a web browser is a portal to HTTP content, a metaverse application will be a portal to whatever application-level protocols arise to support them.

wmf 5y ago
Metaverses are application-level concerns I'm pretty sure that's not how they see it. I think the vision is of the singular Metaverse as the new narrow waist upon which all future apps are built.
- kibwen 5y ago
  Yes, and that's why it's an application level concern. A metaverse like they envision is a platform for the discovery of applications created according to certain standards, just like a web browser, and just like an app store. It's in every big player's interest to delude you into believing that there's only going to be one metaverse, and in particular that it's going to be theirs, but we have no more reason to believe these claims than we have reason to believe that there will ever be exactly one software platform in any other context. It's just a VR-focused app platform.

dagmx 5y ago

Have either Tim Sweeney or Mark Zuckerberg said that there's plans for only a single metaverse? I think it's been pretty clear that they're going to work on their own metaverse products. Epic seems to build on Fortnite , while Meta have Horizon. I don't believe either have stated compatibility as a goal.

wmf 5y ago
They're each going to build their own metaverse and they're planning for that to be the one and only metaverse. They're planning to kill each other.
- dagmx 5y ago
  Yeah that's totally what I expect, which is why I'm confused why the person I replied to seems to believe there'll be a single one. I know that the Web 3.0 Cryptocurrency crowd have ideas on the idea of a decentralized web with a shared ontological understanding, so maybe that's the source of the idea of there being a single metaverse? But neither Epic nor Meta seem interested in a shared ecosystem. The metaverse is a product and their implementations will compete. I'm not sure if people would even want to be in two separate metaverses so competition will be fierce. Most media (books/movie) sidestep that by usually having a single metaverse creator. That's in large part because it's narratively easier to deal with a single villain and universe. I don't know of any that posit having competing offerings.
  - cma 5y ago
    Sweeney laid out his vision here, in 2016 before Fortnite launched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG9-6k3RYIU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG9-6k3RYIU
  - wmf 5y ago
    Agreed. You can have Facebook and Twitter open in two browser tabs and switch between them, but will Facebook and Epic even support the same headset? How much hassle would it be to log out of one and log in to the other? I think they literally want to monopolize your face.
theptip 5y ago
Yes, Zuck discussed this with Ben Thompson for example: https://stratechery.com/2021/an-interview-with-mark-zuckerberg-about-the-metaverse/ https://stratechery.com/2021/an-interview-with-mark-zuckerbe...