4 ms·
>At 3.5k this is completely unaffordable for most of the world and even for high-earners in the US it's a tough pill to swallow for a first generation product.
by jasode 2y ago
>At 3.5k this is completely unaffordable for most of the world and even for high-earners in the US it's a tough pill to swallow for a first generation product.
Apple already knows and has publicly stated that their high $3500 price limits adoption to a smaller market of enthusiastic (and wealthy) early adopters. Even though this particular 2024 iteration of the product is too expensive to be a mass consumer hit like the 1980s Sony Walkman, the more interesting question is if it can be the start of a new paradigm that will be later filled by cheaper iterations.
Past examples of 1st iteration of products being very expensive but triggers a massive new market:
- 1981 IBM PC costs $5240 in inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars ($1565 in 1981 dollars)
- 1983 Motorola DynaTAC (the "brick phone" ) is $11716 in 2023 dollars ($3995 in 1984)
(And the first flat screen tv I bought in 2003 was $4100 for a 32-inch which is $7000 in today's dollars.)
IBM PCs had the "killer app" with Lotus 123 spreadsheet software as a compelling reason to buy it. Indeed, one of the questions when evaluating cheaper clone computers was "does it run Lotus 123?".
The issue is Apple Vision Pro doesn't have an analogous "killer app". The various demos in the Apple Store and Youtube videos of floating windows in your living room and immersive music videos are "interesting" ... but not indispensable tool for work and life.
It's too early to tell if future cheaper iterations of Apple Vision Pro will eventually take off like other previous expensive products like the IBM PC -- or be relegated to niche status like the over-hyped $5000 Segway.
[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_DynaTAC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_DynaTAC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segway
- glimshe 2y agoSmall correction on your great reply for the sake of computer history: it's "Lotus 1-2-3", or "Lotus One Two Three", referring to the calculation, database and graphing capabilities... Some people might think it's "Lotus one hundred and twenty three"
- flohofwoe 2y agoThe IBM PC (architecture) was mostly successful not because of IBM, but because of Microsoft though.
- delichon 2y ago> 1981 IBM PC costs $5240 in inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars ($1565 in 1981 dollars) I bought a clone in '83 for $350. I think it was overclocked to a blazing 8 Mhz. Here's hoping VR follows that slope.
- deely3 2y agoThats super cheap!!! How did you manage to find a clone at that year? Does clone had similar keyboard, HDD, display, mouse? I'm super curious, because in 1990 clones of IBM PC in my country still sells for 500-700 USD.
- delichon 2y agoThis was Orange County, California. I bought it from a guy in his garage, who bought cheap parts from all over and assembled them, back before Michael Dell perfected that business model. Computer Shopper magazine (and similar) was already a thing and you could clip out pounds of ads for such tech.
- technofiend 2y agoYou were an outlier buying a clone for that price, but you're right that Columbia, Compaq, AT&T/Olivetti and many others had clones for far less and if you were willing to use something besides a DOS machine, there was Kaypro that bundled CP/M with an application suite and at times a printer. The old joke was that the Lotus 123 predecessor Visicalc sold more Apples than Apple sold Visicalc. Now that was a killer app. IMHO there's no analogous reason or app to buy VR headsets in general much less the Vision Pro in specific.
- throw0101c 2y ago> IMHO there's no analogous reason or app to buy VR headsets in general much less the Vision Pro in specific. And until Visicalc there was no reason for most people to buy a (micro)computer. The only folks that bought them were (homebrew) tinkerers that couldn't afford minicomputers (PDPs) or mainframes, where there were "real" applications. But things eventually trickled down to micros and people found uses for them. The Vision Pro may simply be in the minicomputer stage of development.