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There's this weird bitterness in the comments about the Vision Pro. Like... > the analogy feels so off the mark here to be downright misleading. I mean, come

There's this weird bitterness in the comments about the Vision Pro. Like... > the analogy feels so off the mark here to be downright misleading. I mean, come on, you're obviously nitpicking here. It's not 100% the same, but the parallel between having devices that were basically dumb phones -> internet computers is there, and there was no real indication at the time that a smart phone like blackberry would become a mass market device. None. Zero. It was a niche device for rich people; most people were, and let's be absolutely honest here, absolutely, perfectly OK with simple feature phones, sending text messages and making calls. So, the analogy here is pretty clear; once the device existed, it created a market that didn't exist or maybe extended a tiny market that already existed, but come onnnnnnnn, is it really that epic a stretch to imagine that it might happen again? ...can you not imagine this as a gen1 device that improves over time? It is really so completely different? I don't think it is. I'm not convinced it will, but the parallel is not nearly as misleading as you're making it out to be. Here's what I think is interesting: People want this is fail. Lots of people. Not because they don't like apple. Not because they don't like VR. They just seem to hate it because its expensive and people are being positive about it and they feel like it's somehow wrong for apple to be: - Selling something this expensive - That is a risky bet that might not play out - That people are willing to talk about favorably on the basis of the Apple brand. ...but, here's the thing right? 1) Who cares? They're rich. Let them fail. 2) Apple has the brand it has because it can deliver, and it has delivered in the past. What kind of numpy stands here and thinks... "Oh gee, these guys at Apple are stupid. They're never going to sell these. They'll regret this. Look at all their failed products and their unsuccessful business. Haha!" > I fully understand how much Meta, Apple and others "want to make fetch happen". Many of us are simply just not interested. ...if some people are excited and enthusiastic about it... ...let them be enthusiastic about it?

jltsiren 3y ago
The way I remember it, the first iPhone was criticized for not having 3G, which was a standard feature ordinary people were already using. But maybe that depends on the country. At least at some point, the Japanese were supposed to have really fancy phones, while the US was behind the rest of the developed world in mobile technology. In Finland, mobile internet was already a big thing during the dot-com boom. The early attempts failed, because the hardware wasn't ready. Regardless, "mobile portal" remained one of the big buzzwords, and even taxi drivers knew that the mobile was the future. In a few years, new phones got color displays, cameras, 3G connections, and GPS receivers. Ordinary people bought them, because flagship phones were cheaper than they are today. And then mobile internet started finally making sense. I remember using the local public transit journey planner on my phone in 2005 or 2006 to determine the right stop after taking an unfamiliar bus.
Baeocystin 3y ago
I think culturally we are in an exceptionally cranky and cynical time. It reminds me a lot of the 70's in that way, actually. Here's hoping we find our collective way through it with aplomb.

jltsiren 3y ago

The way I remember it, the first iPhone was criticized for not having 3G, which was a standard feature ordinary people were already using. But maybe that depends on the country. At least at some point, the Japanese were supposed to have really fancy phones, while the US was behind the rest of the developed world in mobile technology. In Finland, mobile internet was already a big thing during the dot-com boom. The early attempts failed, because the hardware wasn't ready. Regardless, "mobile portal" remained one of the big buzzwords, and even taxi drivers knew that the mobile was the future. In a few years, new phones got color displays, cameras, 3G connections, and GPS receivers. Ordinary people bought them, because flagship phones were cheaper than they are today. And then mobile internet started finally making sense. I remember using the local public transit journey planner on my phone in 2005 or 2006 to determine the right stop after taking an unfamiliar bus.

Baeocystin 3y ago

I think culturally we are in an exceptionally cranky and cynical time. It reminds me a lot of the 70's in that way, actually. Here's hoping we find our collective way through it with aplomb.