The tendency to compare Meta and Apple offerings is always at least a little unfair. Given that this type of product and ecosystem is going to exist now, Apple

The tendency to compare Meta and Apple offerings is always at least a little unfair. Given that this type of product and ecosystem is going to exist now, Apple did everything they reasonably could to avoid the problem of people being isolated behind their glasses, even to the point of introducing more weaknesses in a product because they felt it was worth pointing this trend in a certain direction. The simulated face on the outside is a perfect example. By all accounts, it doesn't work well. They knew it didn't work well, and surely somebody had to say that the product was worse off including it. But clearly the decision was that they'd rather make a product that isolated people less than making a product that was more polished. There were other VR & AR headsets for many years before Vision Pro; how come there weren't viral videos of people wearing them going about their day in city streets? Of the two, which is more like WALL-E with people reclined in total immersion and which is at least trying to head in the direction of AR being a seamless part of every day life? Of course it also has an immersive mode, because you can't seriously make a product like this without accounting for that use case. It just shouldn't be the only way the product can ever be used. Being usable without any controllers is also a significant way that it keeps you in touch with your surroundings. You're not giving up normal interactions in exchange for VR ones; you're gaining AR interactions in addition to all of your normal physical interactions. I think most people don't appreciate just what a radical difference this can be. I think part of why the Vision Pro launched when it did with the strategy and philosophy it did is specifically so that the market doesn't default to how Meta does things. Even if the Vision Pro doesn't sweep the world like the iPhone did, the future will be better if we have examples of how to balance the potential of VR with the potential of AR. Disclaimer: I don't actually have a Vision Pro and a lot would have to change before I'd consider buying it. I'm just explaining why I think they deserve credit for good intentions, and why, given the market is going to contain products like this now, I'm glad the Vision Pro is one of them.