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If it was a dev kit, they could have simply kept it under wraps and provided beta access to gauge developer interest, instead of the usual overwrought keynote.
by rchaud 2y ago
If it was a dev kit, they could have simply kept it under wraps and provided beta access to gauge developer interest, instead of the usual overwrought keynote.
Who builds half a million units of a dev kit?
Some stuff you can just tell is going to flop. This is one of them. Apple still doesn't get that people dont want to put on highly conspicuous headsets to watch a movie or play a game, they're fine using a phone or tablet for that.
Zuckerberg still
pretends like he didnt spend 2 years and untold billions trying to will Horizon Worlds into relevance. Similarly, nobody talks about immersive video on AVP as some kind of gamechanger, not even the usual Apple consumer strategy whisperers like Daring Fireball.
- sneak 2y agoNo, there’s no way to keep a devkit like that under wraps. This is a 5-10 year strategy, not a 1-2 year one.
- rchaud 2y agoWe're several years into that process already then. Apple researched this space for years and their first released product was a giant flop with no developer interest. Apple famously doesn't release anything until they "get it right". So the sound of crickets after an Apple event is already a warning sign. The closer you get to that 5-10 years, the more these types of capital intensive projects start looking non-viable (think Apple EV) compared to cash cows like the App Store and iCloud.
- parasubvert 2y agoHow is the AVP a giant flop? They're largely supply constrained by Sony. The plan was to sell a few hundred thousand units. Which they have.
- parasubvert 2y agoAlmost everyone that has experienced AVP immersive video has absolutely described it as a game changer.
- rchaud 2y agoAnd yet it sits unsold on store shelves. A "gamechanger" in Apple-ese means tens of millions of units shifted. Apple is in the business of selling Big Macs, not wagyu steaks. Apple is not Sony, who were happy to keep investing in their ecosystem even if people didn't buy it (Betamax, MiniDisc, GPS addon for the PSP).
- parasubvert 2y ago"And yet it sits unsold on store shelves. " Citation needed. The AVP is priced for supply constraints. 'A "gamechanger" in Apple-ese means tens of millions of units shifted' Not at all. That may be an external party's definition of success. It is not Apple's. "Apple is in the business of selling Big Macs, not wagyu steaks." I can't even begin to describe how wrong this statement is, even based on a cursory glance of their current product line.