4 ms·

One thing which I don't get why people don't seem to get is long term (and perhaps with this release from Apple) headsets should be replacing tv's for at least

by jdprgm 3y ago

One thing which I don't get why people don't seem to get is long term (and perhaps with this release from Apple) headsets should be replacing tv's for at least a substantial amount of viewing. For example I have a fairly high end 4k projector setup but in an apartment with limits on light control. Even with a dedicated room and $3k allocated to a projector and a screen and high enough resolution (which i'm expecting this headset will be) headset should be able to blow away in terms of perfect light control and thus black levels (assuming OLED) and resolution. And then the ability to not just render a normal home scale theater but trivially an IMAX style if you so choose. Further in a home environment I can see still having a small theater room literally just for the audio equipment which will beat out headphones obviously for a theatre experience but replacing the projector and screen and not requiring as large of a room. Really I think social home sports viewing is the only situation for an argument of physical tv viewing and the comfort level (which i'm expecting apple to have improved on here similar to what Bigscreen is doing). People talk about killer apps for VR and i'm like this is clearly it, we have just been hardware limited so far. People very comfortably spend $1-3k+ on decent TV's and that is just a tiny aspect of what VR can do.

roland35 3y ago
This is so true. I have used a quest pro to watch YouTube and Netflix, and it's a great experience. My house weirdly has no good place for a TV, but with VR it's a much more immersive experience. Just need to get comfort and battery life improved. Watching cyberpunk on Netflix was an experience.
SirLJ 3y ago
How about watching with friend and family? I would hate to watch a tv show with my wife and both have face masks on…. Or hockey game with friends and all with masks
- jdprgm 3y ago
  Right that is why i mentioned sports viewing as probably the main exception. I would be very curious to see the stats on percentage of media viewing alone vs couples vs groups. My bet would be the majority is solo even for families and couples in terms of all total viewing but maybe I am off.
  - ketzo 3y ago
    It’s hard to judge anecdata vs. reality, but I don’t know literally any couple who doesn’t do most of their watching together.
    - piperswe 3y ago
      As an opposing anecdote, my husband's not all that interested in sci-fi and almost all the shows & movies I watch are sci-fi, so we don't end up really watching anything together.
freetime2 3y ago
I just don’t care that much about fidelity on my TVs. By far the majority on content we watch on TV is YouTube and news, where immersiveness is actually undesirable. And nobody in my house can tell the difference between 4k and HD, so I’ve always opted for the cheaper HD Netflix plan. So for me, a more immersive viewing experience isn’t worth the hassle of needing to strap a device to my head.
- jdprgm 3y ago
  I don't really watch cable news so hadn't considered it but yeah makes sense as similar to sports in a lot of situations and more passive viewing. If you aren't the kind of person who watches films and scripted shows like me where all the lights are off and I want no other external sound and a total immersive experience than sure it invalidates my points. Obviously not for all but an option for a lot.
jasmer 3y ago
A 'great' NFL/NBA game experience indeed would be the 'killer app' to make the platform, but I don't see how Apple will have something that crosses the threshold. But they probably have at least a surprise or two up their sleeves. This will be interesting because clearly there's a high risk of failure, and Jobs was known to kill stuff that didn't full fly, I wonder if this is one of those 'momentum' projects that Execs just can't look back from? Meta spent $25B and failed, man, that is a lot of good money after bad. We'll have to wait to see what they announce though.
olkingcole 3y ago
I can't see VR being a better home video experience for most people. For one thing, watching is often a group experience with friends, spouse, kids, etc regardless of content. But even alone I don't think most people want to feel so completely disconnected from their environment just for regular casual viewing. I think most people just won't see the appeal beyond the initial novelty. It's already only a subset of people who care much at all about video quality. There could be niche for enthusiasts of course. On a personal level I also dislike the idea of being home in the evening and myself or my spouse decide to watch something and put on some goggles and completely shut off to the outside world and the other person. Or going in the living room and seeing 3 kids with goggles locked away in different worlds. If we actually did start using VR as the main way to consume media I think it would do us a lot more harm than good. Just my opinion.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

by jdprgm 3y ago

roland35 3y ago

This is so true. I have used a quest pro to watch YouTube and Netflix, and it's a great experience. My house weirdly has no good place for a TV, but with VR it's a much more immersive experience. Just need to get comfort and battery life improved. Watching cyberpunk on Netflix was an experience.

SirLJ 3y ago

How about watching with friend and family? I would hate to watch a tv show with my wife and both have face masks on…. Or hockey game with friends and all with masks

jdprgm 3y ago
Right that is why i mentioned sports viewing as probably the main exception. I would be very curious to see the stats on percentage of media viewing alone vs couples vs groups. My bet would be the majority is solo even for families and couples in terms of all total viewing but maybe I am off.
- ketzo 3y ago
  It’s hard to judge anecdata vs. reality, but I don’t know literally any couple who doesn’t do most of their watching together.
  - piperswe 3y ago
    As an opposing anecdote, my husband's not all that interested in sci-fi and almost all the shows & movies I watch are sci-fi, so we don't end up really watching anything together.

freetime2 3y ago

I just don’t care that much about fidelity on my TVs. By far the majority on content we watch on TV is YouTube and news, where immersiveness is actually undesirable. And nobody in my house can tell the difference between 4k and HD, so I’ve always opted for the cheaper HD Netflix plan. So for me, a more immersive viewing experience isn’t worth the hassle of needing to strap a device to my head.

jdprgm 3y ago
I don't really watch cable news so hadn't considered it but yeah makes sense as similar to sports in a lot of situations and more passive viewing. If you aren't the kind of person who watches films and scripted shows like me where all the lights are off and I want no other external sound and a total immersive experience than sure it invalidates my points. Obviously not for all but an option for a lot.

jasmer 3y ago

A 'great' NFL/NBA game experience indeed would be the 'killer app' to make the platform, but I don't see how Apple will have something that crosses the threshold. But they probably have at least a surprise or two up their sleeves. This will be interesting because clearly there's a high risk of failure, and Jobs was known to kill stuff that didn't full fly, I wonder if this is one of those 'momentum' projects that Execs just can't look back from? Meta spent $25B and failed, man, that is a lot of good money after bad. We'll have to wait to see what they announce though.

olkingcole 3y ago

I can't see VR being a better home video experience for most people. For one thing, watching is often a group experience with friends, spouse, kids, etc regardless of content. But even alone I don't think most people want to feel so completely disconnected from their environment just for regular casual viewing. I think most people just won't see the appeal beyond the initial novelty. It's already only a subset of people who care much at all about video quality. There could be niche for enthusiasts of course. On a personal level I also dislike the idea of being home in the evening and myself or my spouse decide to watch something and put on some goggles and completely shut off to the outside world and the other person. Or going in the living room and seeing 3 kids with goggles locked away in different worlds. If we actually did start using VR as the main way to consume media I think it would do us a lot more harm than good. Just my opinion.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]