Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'I'm Not Really Sure the Average Person Can Tell You What the Metaverse Is'

[nickdalzell1]

Does anyone remember PlayStation Home? That was essentially the same thing (minus VR). It was a flop and got canned by Sony just before the PS4 launched.

As for VRChat, hey, if you like walking around Kmart all day, go ahead! I'll stay in reality where things make sense. There's one thing virtual existance can't replicate, and that's touch. Can anyone imagine a world where no one can even pet their dog (petting a virtual dog has no sensation) or kiss their partner? You can't feel anything. It'd be a numb existence. No thanks. It's like COVID made everyone afraid of being near each other suddenly, and that's not normal for a social species.

I'm still the only one on the hiking trail without a phone in my face, as mine remains in my pocket while my headphones do the music. Wired headphones that is. These phone zombies are walking past nature's majesty, like deer, the forests, flowers, the like. Even worse is they tend to bump into trees if they're too engrossed into their phones. It's just making me really fear the future. I honestly hope I'm dead before it becomes 'normal.'

"Not all change is progress"

~Henry Ford

 

[HeroOfTime32]

Bet

"I thought the earth was flat"
"Please keep yourself muted or I'm going to have to kick you out"

 

[swamprock]

The TL;DR for the Metaverse: The next logical step on our dystopian timeline…

See Exhibit A…

Nope. I'll pass on the NWO crap. Besides, they aren't going to be around much longer...

 

[tubular]

That image looks like the Macy's Parade from hell.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Tim, is this the same person who will wonder how he lived without augmented reality?

Yes but technology is only important if Apple is the gatekeeper

 

[No_comment]

I wish Apple could stand against this madness and let us live like humans, not as products in an artificial world.

 

[Tito360]

Good god please change that cover image! Get him away! Get him awayyyyyyy!

you guys created this guy by going to facebook now deal with it

 

[cupcakes2000]

I really do hope the 3k starting price turns out to be true, the Appleverse will go down in flames too and I'll be watching with my popcorn.

What a truly terrible way to view things, hoping something fails just so one can watch it burn.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Better than it succeeding and then having to live in some sort of cyberpunk hellscape!

 

[jeremysteele]

That image haunts my nightmares.

 

[tubular]

We bring them everywhere we go

Because we can put them in our pockets. Or, with the watch, strap them to our wrist.

I think AR/VR will be useful in the workspace, and the gamespace, but not on the sidewalk.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Because we can put them in our pockets. Or, with the watch, strap them to our wrist.

Or leave them at home, or turn them off and put them in a drawer. If life is going towards transhumanism (Which games like Portal and Portal 2/Half Life/Half Life 2 tried to warn us NOT to do) or a total VR existance like Ready Player One we would have no choice to NOT participate. We'd be forced. That's why I don't look towards the 'future' with the level of optimism I once did when watching Back to the Future.

 

[chevyboy60013]

Haha, Justin. My soothsayer says that within the next 10,000 years, cats will have two tails.

Some already do

 

[Mike WA4D]

🤔 I wonder what iJustine will bring to the conversation

about the metaverse

the woman named iJustine is a gadget SME pretender. or an “air head”. She’s an embarrassment to professional tech Women

 

[cupcakes2000]

the woman named iJustine is a gadget SME pretender. or an “air head”. She’s an embarrassment to professional tech Women

Ahhh, as normal in this world, an old white guy deciding things for everyone else.

 

[Mike WA4D]

Ahhh, as normal in this world, an old white guy deciding things for everyone else.

Laughs. Old White Guy Yes! Who worked with and reported to many professional Women. iJustine is a buffoon.

 

[ArchEtech]

Other than fun video games I will have zero part of a MV and I know what it is.

 

[nickdalzell1]

You can run something called Atom Universe on PlayStation 4 with a PS VR if the Metaverse is your thing, but after getting one heck of a headache an hour into the hellscape it was, I was out. What's the point if you can't smell, feel or touch anything in a virtual world? Without risk, where's the adventure?

"Computer! Disable Holodeck Safety Protocols!"

 

[chucker23n1]

Ahhh, as normal in this world, an old white guy deciding things for everyone else.

It’s weird how she riles people on here up for… making video reviews of Apple products.

 

[Mike WA4D]

Can someone define the MetaVerse to me? I am in information technology, I follow the news and trends, and I can't figure out what exactly they mean when they say it.

You cannot cruise anywhere in the Tech info space and not see pieces describing the Meta space Economics of the future. the hardware. The social impact. The tech. Who will build it (nVidia) is out front. there are several prominent Women thinkers shaping this space. It’s hard to miss the many pieces. An excellent series ran on “the Economist” (subscription required) in the last 12 months. A lot of people think you can describe this Web 3.0 and new VR/AR space with a few sentences. (Especially here in these forums where people think well I have an iMac therefore I’m an expert) So you want to know “exactly what they mean when they say it”? Then you’re looking at several weeks of serious research cutting across multiple disciplines. And I”m guessing you are like most people here in MacRumors. Too lazy to pursue it.

 

[Mike WA4D]

It’s weird how she riles people on here up for… making video reviews of Apple products.

She doesn’t “rile” me up. I like mocking her and belittling her show biz pretentiousness.

 

[Mike WA4D]

Yeah. There was a hype when Oculus arrived, and competitors like HTC Vive came on the space, and then Google Cardboard and PlayStation VR and… not that much happened.

Walking around Google Earth in VR is a very, very cool tech demo, but not very useful. Beat Saber is perhaps the closest to what I would consider a VR killer app.

Metaverse? I’ve done the “walk around as an avatar and meet friends in a virtual space” thing twenty years ago (Uru Live). At the time, with a projector, which made avatars fairly life-like in size. It is neat. Doing with VR glasses, I’m sure, adds to the realism and/or brings us closer to the uncanny valley.

But what Mark is envisioning is silly. We’re not gonna work like that. We’re not gonna spend hours every day of our leisure time like that. Some will. Most won’t.



I think it’s been in closed beta? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon_Worlds

But also, it looks about as good as Second Life, so it’s not exactly taking the world by storm.



One neat thing is that the Apple Watch allows me to carry my iPhone less.

Checker—- I’ve said this elsewhere—- when I read smug posts like yours with authoritative tone but little but your word to back it up— It’s time to see your CV/Education/Experience background. Please provide us with at minimum your Liinked in account or a fuller presentation of your Academic and professional achievements. Being a poster on MacRumors is NOT a credential. Thank You.

 

[chucker23n1]

Checker—- I’ve said this elsewhere—- when I read smug posts like yours with authoritative tone but little but your word to back it up— It’s time to see your CV/Education/Experience background. Please provide us with at minimum your Liinked in account or a fuller presentation of your Academic and professional achievements. Being a poster on MacRumors is NOT a credential. Thank You.

Why, are you hiring?

 

[mike5000]

I’m sure metaporn in the metaverse will be the next gazillion dollar industry

Imagine all of your "private" metaverse experiences archived and for sale to advertisers and whoever else wants it.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Laughs. Old White Guy Yes! Who worked with and reported to many professional Women. iJustine is a buffoon.

Too far Mike, too far.