5 ms·
They don't have the enthusiasm I don't think, and I believe that is where it falls flat. The technology is not currently something that everyone wants and defin
by ehnto 4y ago
They don't have the enthusiasm I don't think, and I believe that is where it falls flat. The technology is not currently something that everyone wants and definitely not something everyone needs.
VR is not good at general computing yet, and the form factor and way you engage with it means people won't be using it in the same way they use TVs, game consoles or smart phones. Mass adoption takes apealing to the lowest common denominator and VR doesn't do that, which is eventually going to be an issue of fashion as much as utility.
No one wants to sit on a bus in a Quest headset, no one wants to sit alone when their friends are in the same room, no one wants to look like a dork at work. Mass adoption is no where near happening to the current state of the art, we have more technology leaps and form factor pivots before we arrive at something a mass adopted social network would work, let alone something aiming to replace segments of business and commerce use cases.
- zmmmmm 4y agoI think the tipping point is closer than you may realise. There has been material progress in form factors in the last year or so and we are not nearly done with the improvements that are on the radar. Once we hit a certain point with the form factor, quite a wide range of use cases will become a no-brainer (for example, sitting on the bus with it).
- nivenkos 4y ago> for example, sitting on the bus with it You'd use an $800 device (with limited awareness of your surroundings) on the bus?
- dbspin 4y agoPeople use their 1200 dollar / euro phones on the bus and in the street at night all the time. Not sure what you're suggesting specifically about public transport - but I would never wear a visually occluding headset on a bus in Ireland. But I would wear it on a coach here, or on a bus in Germany, which has a much safer public culture. Providing it had a small form factor, was relatively discrete etc.
- red-iron-pine 4y agoa phone is small, can be easily put away, and can be used while doing other things with limited or no loss of basic spatial awareness; it's not hard to look up from a phone, or put it away. and it's not just the crime angle, it's things like not missing your stop or being aware of the people moving around you so that you're not a nuisance.
- zmmmmm 4y agoI agree with you based on current hardware, but past the tipping point literally everything you say works in favor of using VR with pass through (let's call it MR). These are all in fact the sorts of reasons why I see it as inevitable that this tech will become ubuiquitous, it's only a question of timing.
- coldtea 4y agoWhy not? A surefire way to win the coveted Darwin Award
- robertlagrant 4y agoI would. Having an app on it that tells me when to get off the bus without having to check my phone 10 times would be worth it. Bonus points for the experience being transformed into a Hogwarts Bus journey.
- dizhn 4y agoThat app would work fine on a 50 dollar phone too.
- zmmmmm 4y agoWith some kind of pass through, 100%
- hmoodie 4y agoI would. You think someone's gonna snatch it off my head or something? I wear 300 dollar noise cancelling headphones at stare at my 1000 dollar phone on the bus every day
- sorokod 4y agoIn a self driving Tesla with it? A perfect match and around the corner too.
- SSLy 4y agoI've used my new iPhone on a beaten down bus running between Mysuru and Bengaluru. I'll be fine.
- brianwawok 4y agoI would Not be caught dead doing VR in public
- hd95489 4y agoEither apples headset is the real deal or it will be another decade
- pydry 4y agoI have so much deja vu reading your comment that I'm starting to speculate what the meta equivalent of "glasshole" will be.
- shaunsingh0207 4y agoVR isn't good at general computing because noone has really embraced the form factor and given it the attention it needs. The issue is, meta is not doing that. Hopefully the upcoming apple ar/XR/vr stuff will be a bit better. The oculus go failed terribly, because no-one made content for it. Microsoft's attempt at arm laptops failed, because no-one made applications for it. Apple was able to convince people it was worth considering arm, maybe they can get people to consider vr?
- oblio 4y ago> Apple was able to convince people it was worth considering arm They did no such thing. They forced their ecosystem to switch to their proprietary ARM platform + extensions. If you look at other ecosystems, a switch hasn't happened. Cloud providers are offering ARM, but on the desktop, x86 is still top dog.
- cassianoleal 4y ago> Apple was able to convince people it was worth considering arm I'm not sure I'd phrase it this way. What Apple did was just great engineering and planning, along with a user focus. Also the fact that it was either embrace ARM or leave. :) What I mean by that is, they launched their ARM/Apple Silicon line of computers and cut off their ties with Intel. They managed to get people buying the new ARM computers by providing an excellent user experience and incredibly good backwards compatibility with the older Intel binaries via Rosetta2. They also started rolling back some of their unpopular decisions of prior years - namely dropping all but USB-C ports and MagSafe. They also started providing Pro laptops without the dreaded TouchBar (yes, some people like it but I don't think numbers are much in its favour). Then they engaged with the developer community and their users to help everybody transition.
- AstixAndBelix 4y agoyou realize every single thing you said would have been true when talking about the first smartphones? The iPhone in 2007 was not a good general computing device, and people were made fun of for looking like dorks because they stared constantly at their screens. And yet here we are, in a future where smartphones diligently satisfy all of consumer's needs and zoning out by looking at your black slab is normalized.
- rospaya 4y agoWe stared at our screens long before 2007, but started doing it more when big screen smartphones became popular. VR adoption is negligible - less than 10 million devices were sold last year, there's no precedent or proof the masses want it.
- AstixAndBelix 4y agoYou didn't stare at your computer while you were on a date in a coffee shop or while you were hiking in the woods. Also there is a precedent: decade of successful science fiction that has made people drool about the thought of VR
- acdha 4y agoI don’t think the comparison makes the point you’re trying for: iPhones became part of people’s lives quickly – I remember executives suddenly pushing for mobile websites – and people who had them used them heavily & inspired other people to buy them. VR costs more and has been on the opposite trajectory: the only thing you ever hear people be excited by are a handful of games (and maybe VRChat for a few communities) and the way it requires dedicated space & excludes other people means that even the enthusiasts I know don’t really use it much. I think decades of sci-fi created some demand but I think it’s still in the Palm Pilot era, especially for the number of devices purchased by people who thought they’d use them more.
- lancesells 4y agoThere's a pretty big difference. The iPhone came out and was a success the first year and just grew from there. The Oculus has been out since ~2016 or so. I don't think it's a rocketship ready to take off with the right hardware or software. I'm sure there's profit to be made, better days to come, etc., but it's not going to be a smartphone.
- winrid 4y agoPeople just don't want to wear a headset. I mean, some do. It's neat. But hard to motivate your employees to build something great when you say it's "the way people will work in the future" when obviously nobody wants this except the bosses.
- coldtea 4y agoNot even the bosses.