5 ms·

I don’t understand the complaint on pricing. A camcorder in 1986 cost around $1900 in today’s money and it sold well. It was far less capable, far less elegan

by symic 3y ago

I don’t understand the complaint on pricing. A camcorder in 1986 cost around $1900 in today’s money and it sold well. It was far less capable, far less elegant, and far more bulky. This device is a computer, camera, MR headset, and replaces monitors. I think $3500 is a very reasonable price given its specs and what it does.

wmf 3y ago
The tech elite already have monitors, TVs, etc. and don't want to re-buy them.
- symic 3y ago
  I think your view is too narrow and short sighted. The tech elite had Blackberries, iPods, and laptops when the iPhone came out and didn’t want to re-buy them. They didn’t rebuy the the first two items but did buy iPhones. This is a similar situation in my opinion.
seanmcdirmid 3y ago
Not only that, but a few years later it will be affordable for those specs.
_zzaw 3y ago
Yeah, I'm somewhere between "that's fucking expensive" and "if it can legitimately replace a monitor for hours on end, that might well justify the price." I'll admit one sticking point for me is the lack of noise cancellation on the earphones. I'm sure that is coming, so holding off for a generation or two might be a good bet.
- symic 3y ago
  I think the noise cancelling will come from AirPods. If they can pull off noise cancelling from the headset alone that would be quite impressive.
MontyCarloHall 3y ago
Because, when it comes to consumer electronics, we have experienced massive deflation for the last ~50 years, to the extent that we simply do not expect to pay big bucks for any electronics. Spending more than $1000-$2000 on a gadget is way outside most people's norms. Remember, the original Macintosh cost $6000 in today’s money, which most people would consider an absolutely ludicrous sum for a computer (of any kind) today.
- symic 3y ago
  Yes, that is true. My wife and I are childless. We could buy two of these devices and immediately get rid of our two TVs, sound system, and monitor. I don’t think I’ll ever buy another monitor, sound system or TV again. I doubt I’ll ever buy an iPad or laptop again either. I think there’s a big enough market for this device at the $3500 price point. Obviously I could be wrong. I hope not because I’m excited about the possibilities of this device.
  - netsharc 3y ago
    Do you really want to "jack in" just to watch a movie or listen to some music? Isn't the point of a TV to relax on the couch, maybe cuddle with the wife?
    - symic 3y ago
      I think a person can relax on the couch with the headset. Cuddling is an issue. I would much rather use the headset than a TV. For one, I can resize the screen as I see fit. One problem in my house is that my oled TV doesn’t do well in sunlight. I can watch a movie while seeming to be at any location I desire. I hate the idea of the electronics waste that comes with 70 inch TVs when the time comes to replace it. I don’t like the hdmi cables and plugs. I’d rather have less clutter. I like the idea of an all purpose, high quality media and internet consumption device that is small that will replace a lot of products that I currently have.
      - amanaplanacanal 3y ago
etempleton 3y ago
I think given the amount of tech and at least presented level of quality of experience (which I do not doubt) the price is fine. I think the problem is it is $3,500 in search of a problem to solve. A camcorder has a clear use case. It let you make home movies. They failed to articulate the use case in a compelling way and every scenario I can think of is extremely hampered by the 2 hour battery life. Business is out. Everyone outside Silicon Valley that can afford this thing will be rejected if they show up with a weird uncanny valley avatar to a meeting. Travel sounds good, but 2 hours really limits it. You better have a seat charger and even then it must be pulling down how many watts? Will seat chargers on planes have enough sustained power to do more than prolong battery life? Watching movies at home? Sure. If you are alone and you are plugged in. What else? Weird VR computing and web browsing? The friction of putting on the headset is too much to make up for however good that experience is.
- symic 3y ago
  I think this headset has a clear use case. For one, it’s a way better recording device than what currently exists. With the headset appearing transparent it will not be too much of barrier to interacting with what you are recording. One can record the birthday party while interacting with the party in a way very similar to how you would if you had no device. Recoding a birthday party using a phone is much more dystopian in my opinion than using this headset. Another use case is getting rid of monitors and freeing up space on a desk. I imagine in the future I’ll have a sever in a closet and the headset will allow me to get rid of my TV, keyboard, mouse, monitor, laptop, and Apple TV. My wife and I can each put on a headset and have customized picture/sound while synchronously watching the same show. She likes the TV to be a lot louder than I do. I will be able to play board games with friends across the country and it will be as if we are all in the same room interacting with the game board. This thing would be great for online teaching or tech support.
  - bennyelv 3y ago
    That first bit sounds like a very hot take to me - the headset quite literally blocks and intercepts the standard human signals for attention and emotional response and then tries to recreate them on an OLED screen with a CGI model. I can't see how that's better than filming on a phone, where although the eyes are looking at what's going on on the screen, their response is still clearly visible in the raw form.
HyperSane 3y ago
My parents bought me a $2,500 PC in 1995, which is $5,045.96 in 2023 money.

by symic 3y ago

wmf 3y ago

The tech elite already have monitors, TVs, etc. and don't want to re-buy them.

symic 3y ago
I think your view is too narrow and short sighted. The tech elite had Blackberries, iPods, and laptops when the iPhone came out and didn’t want to re-buy them. They didn’t rebuy the the first two items but did buy iPhones. This is a similar situation in my opinion.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago

Not only that, but a few years later it will be affordable for those specs.

_zzaw 3y ago

Yeah, I'm somewhere between "that's fucking expensive" and "if it can legitimately replace a monitor for hours on end, that might well justify the price." I'll admit one sticking point for me is the lack of noise cancellation on the earphones. I'm sure that is coming, so holding off for a generation or two might be a good bet.

symic 3y ago
I think the noise cancelling will come from AirPods. If they can pull off noise cancelling from the headset alone that would be quite impressive.

MontyCarloHall 3y ago

Because, when it comes to consumer electronics, we have experienced massive deflation for the last ~50 years, to the extent that we simply do not expect to pay big bucks for any electronics. Spending more than $1000-$2000 on a gadget is way outside most people's norms. Remember, the original Macintosh cost $6000 in today’s money, which most people would consider an absolutely ludicrous sum for a computer (of any kind) today.

symic 3y ago
Yes, that is true. My wife and I are childless. We could buy two of these devices and immediately get rid of our two TVs, sound system, and monitor. I don’t think I’ll ever buy another monitor, sound system or TV again. I doubt I’ll ever buy an iPad or laptop again either. I think there’s a big enough market for this device at the $3500 price point. Obviously I could be wrong. I hope not because I’m excited about the possibilities of this device.
- netsharc 3y ago
  Do you really want to "jack in" just to watch a movie or listen to some music? Isn't the point of a TV to relax on the couch, maybe cuddle with the wife?
  - symic 3y ago
    I think a person can relax on the couch with the headset. Cuddling is an issue. I would much rather use the headset than a TV. For one, I can resize the screen as I see fit. One problem in my house is that my oled TV doesn’t do well in sunlight. I can watch a movie while seeming to be at any location I desire. I hate the idea of the electronics waste that comes with 70 inch TVs when the time comes to replace it. I don’t like the hdmi cables and plugs. I’d rather have less clutter. I like the idea of an all purpose, high quality media and internet consumption device that is small that will replace a lot of products that I currently have.
    - amanaplanacanal 3y ago

etempleton 3y ago

I think given the amount of tech and at least presented level of quality of experience (which I do not doubt) the price is fine. I think the problem is it is $3,500 in search of a problem to solve. A camcorder has a clear use case. It let you make home movies. They failed to articulate the use case in a compelling way and every scenario I can think of is extremely hampered by the 2 hour battery life. Business is out. Everyone outside Silicon Valley that can afford this thing will be rejected if they show up with a weird uncanny valley avatar to a meeting. Travel sounds good, but 2 hours really limits it. You better have a seat charger and even then it must be pulling down how many watts? Will seat chargers on planes have enough sustained power to do more than prolong battery life? Watching movies at home? Sure. If you are alone and you are plugged in. What else? Weird VR computing and web browsing? The friction of putting on the headset is too much to make up for however good that experience is.

symic 3y ago
I think this headset has a clear use case. For one, it’s a way better recording device than what currently exists. With the headset appearing transparent it will not be too much of barrier to interacting with what you are recording. One can record the birthday party while interacting with the party in a way very similar to how you would if you had no device. Recoding a birthday party using a phone is much more dystopian in my opinion than using this headset. Another use case is getting rid of monitors and freeing up space on a desk. I imagine in the future I’ll have a sever in a closet and the headset will allow me to get rid of my TV, keyboard, mouse, monitor, laptop, and Apple TV. My wife and I can each put on a headset and have customized picture/sound while synchronously watching the same show. She likes the TV to be a lot louder than I do. I will be able to play board games with friends across the country and it will be as if we are all in the same room interacting with the game board. This thing would be great for online teaching or tech support.
- bennyelv 3y ago
  That first bit sounds like a very hot take to me - the headset quite literally blocks and intercepts the standard human signals for attention and emotional response and then tries to recreate them on an OLED screen with a CGI model. I can't see how that's better than filming on a phone, where although the eyes are looking at what's going on on the screen, their response is still clearly visible in the raw form.

HyperSane 3y ago

My parents bought me a $2,500 PC in 1995, which is $5,045.96 in 2023 money.