8 ms·

nah, all the angst is because far too many nerds like to think they "own" up and coming cool technology even if they are not even involved beyond having read ab

nah, all the angst is because far too many nerds like to think they "own" up and coming cool technology even if they are not even involved beyond having read about it. When it goes to company that the clique no longer favors, usually after incredible success or the unwashed masses show up, then they act as if the world collapses. It happens so often many of us just laugh if not smirk the whole time we watch the familiar process play itself out. Eventually they learn they are not the center of the universe.

onetwofiveten 13y ago
Oculus was funded by a kickstarter. I think Notch personally contributed. Having given money to help a company develop their core technology is a little different to "not even involved beyond having read about it".
- jfoster 13y ago
  But that isn't what a Kickstarter buys you. You get rewards and you get to help fund the initial vision. (up to the scope of the Kickstarter, fulfilment of rewards, etc.) In any case, if making awesome VR a reality was Oculus' vision, they can make a pretty good case for that vision being well served by the resources of Facebook. At the end of the day, what are people afraid of? That the newest action games won't be playable on Rift? I just don't see how people figure Facebook might ruin this product.
  - onetwofiveten 13y ago
    I was just saying that Kickstarter contributors are more personally invested than simple bystanders. If a company shifts focus away from the initial vision they used to attract funding, before that vision has been realised, then naturally the contributors feel betrayed. I think that's reasonable. If you sell someone a vision you don't believe in, then that's dishonest, even if it's not illegal. That said, I personally don't know if Facebook is going to mess up Oculus. I imagine that what people are worried about is that Facebook will push for Oculus to be used for social VR and will largely ignore games. VR gaming requires high quality sensory experience in a dynamic environment with fast player movements. Social VR is probably going to be way, way more static, (but will have other demands like monitoring body position, face scanning, etc.)
  - untothebreach 13y ago
    Whether or not that is what Kickstarter buys you, I don't think it is unreasonable that people feel a sense of possession when it comes to projects they have backed. I'm not saying it is _right_ that they feel this way, but I can see how doing your own little part to bring something into this world could cause a person to hold on to it more than if they just bought something off a store shelf.
  - thenomad 13y ago
    An obvious concern is that independent developers will be barred from developing for the Rift, or forced into unpleasant licensing terms in order to do so.
  - belorn 13y ago
    > I just don't see how people figure Facebook might ruin this product. To make the product valuable, it has to be a good platform which other companies can use. Facebook has ruined many companies that relied on the facebook api to build their businesses. Sometimes facebook reimplemented someones else idea and then remove features from the api to kill the original company. Making a product based on the Oculus rift platform is a high risk operation. Facebook has already ruined the trust.
pfraze 13y ago
This is upsetting because it means Facebook is building the software platform for the Oculus, not enthusiast developers or hundreds of independent startups. This has economic impact, and it's personally disappointing for anybody who gets excited about building VRUI. Or, yeah, angst.
- robobro 13y ago
  Facebook's just buying the Oculus. People will clone it.
  - PhasmaFelis 13y ago
    And then Facebook will crush them.
- stonemetal 13y ago
  Facebook is building the software platform for the Oculus The core services sure but why wouldn't it be like FB in general(full of third party apps and games)?
  - ENGNR 13y ago
    And how many developers have found success dealing with the FB APIs and platform? There's a reason people only integrate with FB to try and take traffic, and even then they become the customer paying for ads. It's not worth your time.
benched 13y ago
Thank you for this stirring description of the view from way up there, where you are.
copergi 13y ago
To be fair, these are people who funded the company in the first place, based on kickstarter's deliberately misleading marketing materials pretending that makes them investors. Generally when people fund a company which is bought by big money, they get a payout. In this case, instead they get the thing that made them fund it in the first place thrown in the garbage.
- jaredmcateer 13y ago
  I think this move will really solidify the reality anyone thinking about kick starting something, you're not an investor, all you get for your donation is the possibility of receiving the items in the sidebar at the level you donated, the company owes you nothing else.

onetwofiveten 13y ago

Oculus was funded by a kickstarter. I think Notch personally contributed. Having given money to help a company develop their core technology is a little different to "not even involved beyond having read about it".

jfoster 13y ago
But that isn't what a Kickstarter buys you. You get rewards and you get to help fund the initial vision. (up to the scope of the Kickstarter, fulfilment of rewards, etc.) In any case, if making awesome VR a reality was Oculus' vision, they can make a pretty good case for that vision being well served by the resources of Facebook. At the end of the day, what are people afraid of? That the newest action games won't be playable on Rift? I just don't see how people figure Facebook might ruin this product.
- onetwofiveten 13y ago
  I was just saying that Kickstarter contributors are more personally invested than simple bystanders. If a company shifts focus away from the initial vision they used to attract funding, before that vision has been realised, then naturally the contributors feel betrayed. I think that's reasonable. If you sell someone a vision you don't believe in, then that's dishonest, even if it's not illegal. That said, I personally don't know if Facebook is going to mess up Oculus. I imagine that what people are worried about is that Facebook will push for Oculus to be used for social VR and will largely ignore games. VR gaming requires high quality sensory experience in a dynamic environment with fast player movements. Social VR is probably going to be way, way more static, (but will have other demands like monitoring body position, face scanning, etc.)
- untothebreach 13y ago
  Whether or not that is what Kickstarter buys you, I don't think it is unreasonable that people feel a sense of possession when it comes to projects they have backed. I'm not saying it is _right_ that they feel this way, but I can see how doing your own little part to bring something into this world could cause a person to hold on to it more than if they just bought something off a store shelf.
- thenomad 13y ago
  An obvious concern is that independent developers will be barred from developing for the Rift, or forced into unpleasant licensing terms in order to do so.
- belorn 13y ago
  > I just don't see how people figure Facebook might ruin this product. To make the product valuable, it has to be a good platform which other companies can use. Facebook has ruined many companies that relied on the facebook api to build their businesses. Sometimes facebook reimplemented someones else idea and then remove features from the api to kill the original company. Making a product based on the Oculus rift platform is a high risk operation. Facebook has already ruined the trust.

pfraze 13y ago

This is upsetting because it means Facebook is building the software platform for the Oculus, not enthusiast developers or hundreds of independent startups. This has economic impact, and it's personally disappointing for anybody who gets excited about building VRUI. Or, yeah, angst.

robobro 13y ago
Facebook's just buying the Oculus. People will clone it.
- PhasmaFelis 13y ago
  And then Facebook will crush them.
stonemetal 13y ago
Facebook is building the software platform for the Oculus The core services sure but why wouldn't it be like FB in general(full of third party apps and games)?
- ENGNR 13y ago
  And how many developers have found success dealing with the FB APIs and platform? There's a reason people only integrate with FB to try and take traffic, and even then they become the customer paying for ads. It's not worth your time.

benched 13y ago

Thank you for this stirring description of the view from way up there, where you are.

copergi 13y ago

To be fair, these are people who funded the company in the first place, based on kickstarter's deliberately misleading marketing materials pretending that makes them investors. Generally when people fund a company which is bought by big money, they get a payout. In this case, instead they get the thing that made them fund it in the first place thrown in the garbage.

jaredmcateer 13y ago
I think this move will really solidify the reality anyone thinking about kick starting something, you're not an investor, all you get for your donation is the possibility of receiving the items in the sidebar at the level you donated, the company owes you nothing else.