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I’ve never seen an AR/VR usecase that interested me, but if this thing turns out to be a decent replacement for external monitors I’d probably buy one. I travel

I’ve never seen an AR/VR usecase that interested me, but if this thing turns out to be a decent replacement for external monitors I’d probably buy one. I travel a lot for work and the laptop on the shitty hotel desk setup is a major drag.

NovaDudely 3y ago
I'm with you, it seems neat technology wise but the use cases I have seen just seem almost forced. I mean it is neat but I am not really wowed by the potential. In the realm of teaching, particularly with representation of physical things - this thing will be awesome. But beyond that, I don't know. The idea of a portable large viewing screen is brilliant but that it not the real main selling point of this. A decent VR head set could do something similar. In 10 years time, comments like this will either look like a prophet that could see the folly of the future... or be like all those people that dumped on the iPod and iPhone.
- mr_toad 3y ago
  > A decent VR head set could do something similar. Are there any VR sets & OSs that can project multiple app windows into the space around you?
- AmericanChopper 3y ago
  I’m not trying to dump on it, I’m just saying that as I see the product today, that’s the only thing I imagine myself wanting to use it for. That said, when the iPhone first came out I was only really interested in it to upgrade my mobile email experience, so we’ll see I guess…
- cwxm 3y ago
  this seems like it’ll be much higher resolution than even decent VR headsets. Also, I think the AR mode being very good is important. Not seeing the real world for too long would make me feel claustrophobic
spaceman_2020 3y ago
I can totally imagine walking into a WeWork in 2025 and seeing everyone in the hot desk area wearing one of these instead of their tiny laptops.
- ulfw 3y ago
  That makes weworking and hotdesking in an office even more useless than it already is. Sitting there with your headset on, disconnected from most of the world.
  - AmericanChopper 3y ago
    My usecase is a probably not so common, but as a frequent hotel-room-worker the main value I (only occasionally) get from the wework-like services is a comfortable desk/chair (with a monitor) and a more stable internet connection than you sometimes find in hotels.
  - spaceman_2020 3y ago
    My reason for going to WeWork are to simply chat up with other people during breaks I’m not working. It’s pretty much my only regular social outlet.
  - foooorsyth 3y ago
    Some people just need a quiet place to work where there’s coffee and clean bathrooms and no toddlers running around tugging at your leg asking Dada to go up in the air.
nologic01 3y ago
I somehow doubt that this would work for real work. The desktop/paper metaphor of the monitor is an important part of its usability. Not sure whether "spatial computing" can invent something equally workable for the stuff people usually do on a computer (besides 3D gaming). It is conceivable that completely different categories of workflows will become available. In the end everything we do on a computer has been invented at some point or another. I guess there are plenty of eager early-adopters and fanboys that will be more than happy to report on their magical productivity boosts. In any case, assuming that the above caveat is not an issue, if the main real use case is as external monitor replacement I would think that suitably optimized hardware would deliver much better value for money. No need to wear a computer on your head when you need to carry one on your laptop (even mobile) anyway.
- AmericanChopper 3y ago
  I’m also rather skeptical about whether it would do very well for that usecase. But Apple seem to be saying it will work well for that, so I’ll wait and see. Once I’ve had a chance to try one and see how it works/feels I’ll make up my mind about it. I’m also not really concerned about value for money. As far as business expenses go it wouldn’t exactly be a major spend. I’m personally more concerned about how good the experience is, and value for weight and size. For about half the days in the year I have to live with ~35 lbs of possessions that have to be able to fit in a suitcase. So for me if it could deliver sufficiently improved work experience it would be worth it.

NovaDudely 3y ago

I'm with you, it seems neat technology wise but the use cases I have seen just seem almost forced. I mean it is neat but I am not really wowed by the potential. In the realm of teaching, particularly with representation of physical things - this thing will be awesome. But beyond that, I don't know. The idea of a portable large viewing screen is brilliant but that it not the real main selling point of this. A decent VR head set could do something similar. In 10 years time, comments like this will either look like a prophet that could see the folly of the future... or be like all those people that dumped on the iPod and iPhone.

mr_toad 3y ago
> A decent VR head set could do something similar. Are there any VR sets & OSs that can project multiple app windows into the space around you?
AmericanChopper 3y ago
I’m not trying to dump on it, I’m just saying that as I see the product today, that’s the only thing I imagine myself wanting to use it for. That said, when the iPhone first came out I was only really interested in it to upgrade my mobile email experience, so we’ll see I guess…
cwxm 3y ago
this seems like it’ll be much higher resolution than even decent VR headsets. Also, I think the AR mode being very good is important. Not seeing the real world for too long would make me feel claustrophobic

spaceman_2020 3y ago

I can totally imagine walking into a WeWork in 2025 and seeing everyone in the hot desk area wearing one of these instead of their tiny laptops.

ulfw 3y ago
That makes weworking and hotdesking in an office even more useless than it already is. Sitting there with your headset on, disconnected from most of the world.
- AmericanChopper 3y ago
  My usecase is a probably not so common, but as a frequent hotel-room-worker the main value I (only occasionally) get from the wework-like services is a comfortable desk/chair (with a monitor) and a more stable internet connection than you sometimes find in hotels.
- spaceman_2020 3y ago
  My reason for going to WeWork are to simply chat up with other people during breaks I’m not working. It’s pretty much my only regular social outlet.
- foooorsyth 3y ago
  Some people just need a quiet place to work where there’s coffee and clean bathrooms and no toddlers running around tugging at your leg asking Dada to go up in the air.

nologic01 3y ago

I somehow doubt that this would work for real work. The desktop/paper metaphor of the monitor is an important part of its usability. Not sure whether "spatial computing" can invent something equally workable for the stuff people usually do on a computer (besides 3D gaming). It is conceivable that completely different categories of workflows will become available. In the end everything we do on a computer has been invented at some point or another. I guess there are plenty of eager early-adopters and fanboys that will be more than happy to report on their magical productivity boosts. In any case, assuming that the above caveat is not an issue, if the main real use case is as external monitor replacement I would think that suitably optimized hardware would deliver much better value for money. No need to wear a computer on your head when you need to carry one on your laptop (even mobile) anyway.

AmericanChopper 3y ago
I’m also rather skeptical about whether it would do very well for that usecase. But Apple seem to be saying it will work well for that, so I’ll wait and see. Once I’ve had a chance to try one and see how it works/feels I’ll make up my mind about it. I’m also not really concerned about value for money. As far as business expenses go it wouldn’t exactly be a major spend. I’m personally more concerned about how good the experience is, and value for weight and size. For about half the days in the year I have to live with ~35 lbs of possessions that have to be able to fit in a suitcase. So for me if it could deliver sufficiently improved work experience it would be worth it.