4 ms·

> an average idea backed by untold money I keep finding it strange that this doesn't have to be true? A repeated question I keep hearing as well as having mys

by Folcon 3y ago

> an average idea backed by untold money I keep finding it strange that this doesn't have to be true? A repeated question I keep hearing as well as having myself is, "what is it for?" which personally seems bizarre. There are many possible valid answers to that question, but I as someone who's spent at least a few hours hearing about it really shouldn't have that question. That personally feels like a much more significant failure than anything else. Though perhaps I've missed it, maybe there's some clear articulation somewhere of what the goal is of the Metaverse, if so, feel free to enlighten me =)...

iamthemonster 3y ago
The goal is to serve more ads into people's retinas
rob74 3y ago
The ultimate goal of the Metaverse can only be to have something like the Matrix, i.e. have a significant part of the population "jacked in" to the Metaverse most of the time (which would only be the logical continuation of the current state of affairs, with most of us walking around like zombies, constantly looking at our phones). But that would be a bit too dystopian for most people's tastes, so they avoid mentioning it too explicitly...
- Folcon 3y ago
  Sure, but if that's the goal then they're failing at the first hurdle, if you want to serve ads, you need space / context that holds people's attention and interest. That's literally table stakes. You can't serve ads to nobody. So even though that may be "what it's for", that can't be the sole reason, those people need a reason to show up. So for that audience or any audience, what is it for?
  - michaelt 3y ago
    The theoretical sci-fi promise of things like the metaverse would be having pretty much everything reality has, but better. A metaverse concert as good as attending a real concert in person, but also your friend who lives 500 miles away is right there next to you. Business meetings as good as meeting in person, but with infinitely luxurious surroundings and no travel time. Office buildings where everyone gets a private office and a dozen huge monitors. And so on. Obviously, that's not what Facebook are offering at the moment. I would say they are nowhere close. And of course, though to you and I such a thing controlled by Facebook might seem incredibly dystopian, Zuckerberg probably has a much higher opinion of facebook than normal people!
    - rob74 3y ago
      That sounds cool - not only for concerts, but also for sports matches etc. But the thing is, why do we need a centralized platform like Facebook, er, Meta, for that? Much better to have an open standard with which everyone can stream a live concert in VR, or offer an application (like Zoom, Teams, ...) for VR meetings? I would say tying VR to Meta is holding it back more than helping to spread the technology...
      - Folcon 3y ago
        I'd say you're right in that regard, open standards in this space would be good, but equally having a large player pouring in resources to develop the space can get those efforts off the ground.
    - Folcon 3y ago
      > A metaverse concert as good as attending a real concert in person, but also your friend who lives 500 miles away is right there next to you. Business meetings as good as meeting in person, but with infinitely luxurious surroundings and no travel time. Office buildings where everyone gets a private office and a dozen huge monitors. And so on. I personally would be more engaged if they looked a bit further. For example, this may not be the best idea, but making spaces more accessible to those who have difficulties navigating them could be helpful? That at least is something that doesn't exist, I mean I can go to a real concert to visit a friend hundreds of miles away, but when I was younger I had vertigo. I'm still a bit uncomfortable with heights, going into VR and seeing views from a height with little prep knowing that I'm both safe, but get to experience it on some level was quite liberating. There are people with much more significant challenges, some of whom I assume would like to be able to have another way to engage with people and spaces that they currently feel are impossible to navigate.
- krapp 3y ago
  What's ironic is that the Metaverse was originally a utopian ideal within a fictional cyberpunk dystopia, but now we know that centralization of the internet means oppression by governments, surveillance, addiction and corporate mind control, in practice it could only ever be a dystopia within a dystopia, like Zion within the Matrix.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- avidphantasm 3y ago
  Carmack has explicitly mentioned that not everyone can have a nice house in a nice place in the real world, but can have one in the metaverse. That’s when I stopped thinking he was so cool. He’s a brilliant engineer, but his political-economy is chilling.

by Folcon 3y ago

iamthemonster 3y ago

The goal is to serve more ads into people's retinas

rob74 3y ago

The ultimate goal of the Metaverse can only be to have something like the Matrix, i.e. have a significant part of the population "jacked in" to the Metaverse most of the time (which would only be the logical continuation of the current state of affairs, with most of us walking around like zombies, constantly looking at our phones). But that would be a bit too dystopian for most people's tastes, so they avoid mentioning it too explicitly...

Folcon 3y ago
Sure, but if that's the goal then they're failing at the first hurdle, if you want to serve ads, you need space / context that holds people's attention and interest. That's literally table stakes. You can't serve ads to nobody. So even though that may be "what it's for", that can't be the sole reason, those people need a reason to show up. So for that audience or any audience, what is it for?
- michaelt 3y ago
  The theoretical sci-fi promise of things like the metaverse would be having pretty much everything reality has, but better. A metaverse concert as good as attending a real concert in person, but also your friend who lives 500 miles away is right there next to you. Business meetings as good as meeting in person, but with infinitely luxurious surroundings and no travel time. Office buildings where everyone gets a private office and a dozen huge monitors. And so on. Obviously, that's not what Facebook are offering at the moment. I would say they are nowhere close. And of course, though to you and I such a thing controlled by Facebook might seem incredibly dystopian, Zuckerberg probably has a much higher opinion of facebook than normal people!
  - rob74 3y ago
    That sounds cool - not only for concerts, but also for sports matches etc. But the thing is, why do we need a centralized platform like Facebook, er, Meta, for that? Much better to have an open standard with which everyone can stream a live concert in VR, or offer an application (like Zoom, Teams, ...) for VR meetings? I would say tying VR to Meta is holding it back more than helping to spread the technology...
    - Folcon 3y ago
      I'd say you're right in that regard, open standards in this space would be good, but equally having a large player pouring in resources to develop the space can get those efforts off the ground.
  - Folcon 3y ago
    > A metaverse concert as good as attending a real concert in person, but also your friend who lives 500 miles away is right there next to you. Business meetings as good as meeting in person, but with infinitely luxurious surroundings and no travel time. Office buildings where everyone gets a private office and a dozen huge monitors. And so on. I personally would be more engaged if they looked a bit further. For example, this may not be the best idea, but making spaces more accessible to those who have difficulties navigating them could be helpful? That at least is something that doesn't exist, I mean I can go to a real concert to visit a friend hundreds of miles away, but when I was younger I had vertigo. I'm still a bit uncomfortable with heights, going into VR and seeing views from a height with little prep knowing that I'm both safe, but get to experience it on some level was quite liberating. There are people with much more significant challenges, some of whom I assume would like to be able to have another way to engage with people and spaces that they currently feel are impossible to navigate.
krapp 3y ago
What's ironic is that the Metaverse was originally a utopian ideal within a fictional cyberpunk dystopia, but now we know that centralization of the internet means oppression by governments, surveillance, addiction and corporate mind control, in practice it could only ever be a dystopia within a dystopia, like Zion within the Matrix.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
avidphantasm 3y ago
Carmack has explicitly mentioned that not everyone can have a nice house in a nice place in the real world, but can have one in the metaverse. That’s when I stopped thinking he was so cool. He’s a brilliant engineer, but his political-economy is chilling.