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"without any results whatsoever" is a bit of a stretch, the Quest 2 shipped ~15 million units and there are more headsets on the way. Now, I'm not exactly sold

"without any results whatsoever" is a bit of a stretch, the Quest 2 shipped ~15 million units and there are more headsets on the way. Now, I'm not exactly sold on the vision of a global metaverse capital, but even the original Quest is pretty incredible value. If Zuckerberg's strategy is to invest in miniaturizing and mass-manufacturing, he might have a more successful digital platform than the pricier competition. As-is, Meta is pretty much the only competitor.

jruohonen 3y ago
> a bit of a stretch But see, virtual worlds ("metaverse") were expected to become a thing already in the 1990s, but it never happened, and I have little trust that it will be in place by 2035. Hence, the comment about betting horses. Add Web 3, decentralization, blockchain, and the crypto lunacy, and you get even a better cocktail of misplaced expectations.
- xanderlewis 3y ago
  Exactly. But I’d say the ‘metaverse’ did happen, we just don’t call it (or think of it like) that. We already have virtual worlds, and they’re (for better or for worse) ubiquitous. There seems to be little benefit to making them 3D, having goofy avatars and having them loosely approximate everyday reality.
  - jruohonen 3y ago
    > But I’d say the ‘metaverse’ did happen, we just don’t call it (or think of it like) that. If Internet := metaverse, then sure, I agree.
    - xanderlewis 3y ago
      I take metaverse to mean something like ‘a universe of universes’. So the internet, or perhaps the web, is surely exactly that.
swatcoder 3y ago
They're trying to mimic Jobs' Apple by breaking open a gigantic new market, but if the market doesn't materialize around them ("pretty much the only competitor") their story ends up looking a lot more like Palm's. And Palm's devices sold much better than Quests have so far.
- smoldesu 3y ago
  Thank god my largest investment in their success is a single Quest 1 unit.

jruohonen 3y ago

> a bit of a stretch But see, virtual worlds ("metaverse") were expected to become a thing already in the 1990s, but it never happened, and I have little trust that it will be in place by 2035. Hence, the comment about betting horses. Add Web 3, decentralization, blockchain, and the crypto lunacy, and you get even a better cocktail of misplaced expectations.

xanderlewis 3y ago
Exactly. But I’d say the ‘metaverse’ did happen, we just don’t call it (or think of it like) that. We already have virtual worlds, and they’re (for better or for worse) ubiquitous. There seems to be little benefit to making them 3D, having goofy avatars and having them loosely approximate everyday reality.
- jruohonen 3y ago
  > But I’d say the ‘metaverse’ did happen, we just don’t call it (or think of it like) that. If Internet := metaverse, then sure, I agree.
  - xanderlewis 3y ago
    I take metaverse to mean something like ‘a universe of universes’. So the internet, or perhaps the web, is surely exactly that.

swatcoder 3y ago

They're trying to mimic Jobs' Apple by breaking open a gigantic new market, but if the market doesn't materialize around them ("pretty much the only competitor") their story ends up looking a lot more like Palm's. And Palm's devices sold much better than Quests have so far.

smoldesu 3y ago
Thank god my largest investment in their success is a single Quest 1 unit.