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

[cupcakes2000]

Books work for me...

It’s just nowhere near the same thing though, is it? I mean books are great - and they aren’t going anywhere. They can be immersive and take you to incredible places.

But actually going someplace within a realistic 3D representation?

Learning via books is perfect and how we all did it. This is learning by reading. It’s not going anywhere - but to augment that with the potential that AR (and in some respects VR) has to offer can’t be sniffed at. Learning biology by looking inside and around the human body…
Learning physics by going in to space or travelling around atoms ..

Sure there can and will be bad uses, potential for people to be lead astray and become addicted, morals to go out of the window for some, apparent destruction of humanity for others - but the same has been said of various books thought history. Or works of art, computer games, tv and film, the internet.

 

[chucker23n1]

The big issue is the people who used to talk to people who started a conversation now have no one talking to them cause of the phones, so they go to the phones because no one talks to them anymore.

 

[Mike WA4D]

I'm a few years older than you, but I don't want any part of this garbage either. I remember getting excited at the original idea of some kind of online virtual reality world, back when "Linden Labs" first created "Second Life". Then I tried using the thing for about 30 minutes and realized it was little more than a gimmick.

Ultimately, we humans are only on this planet for a limited time. I'm not sure what the fascination is with slapping on some goggles and special gloves or other gear and trying to immerse ourselves in a fake reconstruction of what's actually all around us? Sure, you can create impossible scenarios like maybe a world where everything is happening under water, or ?? So what? Beyond it being done for very specific scenarios like practice simulations for surgeons to hone their skills, or video games to enhance the experience? It doesn't seem appealing, wise or productive.

By and large, the sci-fi novels that predict a future with anything resembling a "metaverse" paint a dystopian future that is interesting to read about, but more of a cautionary tale of what we might wind up doing someday. I don't read that stuff and long for it to happen.

Humanity will go down a long, slow path of decline if we keep focusing our efforts on ways to disconnect people from daily life and build these "escapes" for them to get addicted to.

To be fair, I do understand that "AR" is not "VR" ... and it's supposed to be much more about providing additional "overlays" of information to your existing senses. (EG. Look at a bird in a tree and immediately get a text overlay in the corner of your vision that identifies the type of bird for you.) I still feel like it's information overload... Just because we CAN doesn't mean we SHOULD. People are fighting with too much information coming at them from all sides, as it is. Do we really need all this extra information constantly streaming to us via AR? What's wrong with most people not knowing all those details and only looking them up if they have a reason to care more than most people would?

You can always decline to participate and not integrate your life with technology. Many will. I don’t care if people get “addicted” to drugs, technology, sex, (fill in the blank here). Tim Cook is right. And my prediction is: those who reject this coming onslaught of technology will do so at their peril.

 

[Mike WA4D]

View attachment 2087123

Yes that looks like a group I want to engage with.

 

[Mike WA4D]

It’s just nowhere near the same thing though, is it? I mean books are great - and they aren’t going anywhere. They can be immersive and take you to incredible places.

But actually going someplace within a realistic 3D representation?

Learning via books is perfect and how we all did it. This is learning by reading. It’s not going anywhere - but to augment that with the potential that AR (and in some respects VR) has to offer can’t be sniffed at. Learning biology by looking inside and around the human body…
Learning physics by going in to space or travelling around atoms ..

Sure there can and will be bad uses, potential for people to be lead astray and become addicted, morals to go out of the window for some, apparent destruction of humanity for others - but the same has been said of various books thought history. Or works of art, computer games, tv and film, the internet.

You really don’t get it Cupcakes. Your audience is calcified. Unimaginative. And threatened by the future. No syrupy, matriarchal finger wagging will do.

 

[Mike WA4D]

I must be getting old. I remember when the market decided what companies make.
Now you have these massive companies with GDP bigger than multiple companies combined, dictating to the public what market they will live in, and like it to boot!

Arrogance and hubris have been the downfall of many a person throughout history.

The more Zuckerberg OR Cook believe they are immune, and it couldn't possible happen to them, the more likely it eventually becomes it will.

Thankfully, the “market” is overrated. The average American reads at the 7th/8th grade level. (Source: The Literacy Project). Ignorance is widespread. No one from Apple, or Oracle, or Amazon or Google put’s a gun to your head and says use this product. There are other options available (for now).

 

[JustAnExpat]

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.

Can you sum up the "Metaverse" in a few sentences then?

 

[cupcakes2000]

The average American reads at the 7th/8th grade level. (Source: The Literacy Project). Ignorance is widespread.

The USA is but one country in a world of many. So speak for yourselves, sure, but do remember that.

You really don’t get it Cupcakes. Your audience is calcified. Unimaginative. And threatened by the future. No syrupy, matriarchal finger wagging will do.

I don’t think it’s that I don’t get it, rather you are overly cynical, or maybe a mixture of the two.

I think your point seems to be they’ll never get it (which I somewhat agree with for some types)
My point is people think they won’t get it, but then do - as history has shown when the scary world ‘forces’ something new.

 

[bobcomer]

It’s just nowhere near the same thing though, is it? I mean books are great - and they aren’t going anywhere. They can be immersive and take you to incredible places.

It is to me. My imagination is good enough to see what I'm reading, and I like to read. (a lot!)

But actually going someplace within a realistic 3D representation?

I don't see in 3D, ever. (Duane Syndrome)

A TV or just books are more than enough for me. I'm not very visually oriented.

 

[Pentium]

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

I still can not believe this is the meta graphics in 2022. PlayStation Home in 2008 was more advanced lol

 

[Mike WA4D]

The USA is but one country in a world of many. So speak for yourselves, sure, but do remember that.



I don’t think it’s that I don’t get it, rather you are overly cynical, or maybe a mixture of the two.

I think your point seems to be they’ll never get it (which I somewhat agree with for some types)
My point is people think they won’t get it, but then do - as history has shown when the scary world ‘forces’ something new.

Valid point.

 

[Gasu E.]

Mark looks extremely creepy in the MetaVerse 😱 just in the same way that he spies on all of us.

Contrary to popular belief, the image above is not Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse avatar. It's an actual photo of a Mark Zuckerberg blow-up sex doll.

 

[Gasu E.]

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

Then how will they eat?

 

[Mike WA4D]

Not sure of the relevance but that sure was an interesting exercise in selective quoting. Actual quote:

I started subscribing to Wired in 95. I remember that quote. I don’t remember what my reaction to it was though.

“Maybe it’s ’cause I want to believe in an afterlife. That when you die, it doesn’t just all disappear. The wisdom you’ve accumulated. Somehow it lives on.” Jobs to Walter Issacson

Right!! I DO recall my reaction to that quote.

All that alleged, “Magical Thinking”. Jobs couldn’t see the internet. And then decided he knew what was best for his health care. Thankfully, Jobs passed so Tim Cook could take Apple into the future.

 

[Mike WA4D]

This is why I keep saying VR > AR. There's just way more fun stuff in VR. Stuff like fighting through the trenches of WWII committing espionage for the Allies, or face to face with Darth Vader as he assesses whether or not I'm fit to live or not, or being thrusted into a gladiatorial arena fighting others in the pit for fame and glory, playing poker with some strangers around the world in an old wild west saloon or a spy supervillain's volcano lair. Literally anyone can be a thrillseeker and do things they could never do in real life without any danger.

Yes— Here in America most Youth are unfit for induction to the Armed Forces. 70% of 18-24 (HS dropouts, Mental health issues, criminal records, obesity) Source: US Army Recuriting command Web site. Few of those who are qualified commit to this routine civic responsibility. Their deluded VR world revolves around the artificial danger they seek, pretending they are heroes, “fighting for fame and glory”. They represent the dregs of American society.

 

[Mike WA4D]

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

Why is it always White Men who bring Porn into the discussion? Hotrod is the 3rd or 4th guy to offer pornography as his analysis.

 

[Stevez67]

I expect the metaverse will be a technology-enhanced sales platform. I'll check it out when it comes to some sort of fruition, but my expectations are quite low.

 

[Mike WA4D]

Eventually I think people will tire of it. It's the same exact stuff as reality but repackaged for resale. Another form of escapism and fantasy until reality intervenes one way or another.

I don’t think they’ll tire of it. It will become Aldous Huxley’s “Soma”. The uneducated are totally screwed in a globalized knowledge worker era— especially those who think they have a skill (think plumbers, electricians, appliance repair and the big one Self driving trucking and near total logistics automation). And don’t forget the dead enders in “retail”!! Moreover the educated classes will not be immune to the ravenous job eating world of the future. Think Medicine Law, Education and government. ( And guess what sector is quietly spending billions on their version of the Metaverse? The Department of Defense). the only “reality” that will intervene will be UBI. (Universal Basic Income that will keep millions from starving). It’s going to be a fantastic world to live in!!!! Laughs!

 

[Mike WA4D]

I still can not believe this is the meta graphics in 2022. PlayStation Home in 2008 was more advanced lol

It’s not “the meta graphics” — it is a crude single depiction of a man eager to sell his vision.

The realism of the Virtual spaces in a decade will be more to our liking— with the emergence of the new artificial intelligence text to image generator named DALL-E (after Salvador Dali of course) — Dare I say, the Metaverse will become near indistinguishable from “reality”.

 

[hortod1]

Why is it always White Men who bring Porn into the discussion? Hotrod is the 3rd or 4th guy to offer pornography as his analysis.

Ok boomer

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Yes— Here in America most Youth are unfit for induction to the Armed Forces. 70% of 18-24 (HS dropouts, Mental health issues, criminal records, obesity) Source: US Army Recuriting command Web site. Few of those who are qualified commit to this routine civic responsibility. Their deluded VR world revolves around the artificial danger they seek, pretending they are heroes, “fighting for fame and glory”. They represent the dregs of American society.

Bro what? 🥴

How the hell did you get that from my post about being face to face with Darth Vader in virtual reality? I guess I'm a "dreg of American society" for playing Beat Saber or Microsoft Flight Simulator in VR mode too huh?

 

[Mike WA4D]

Bro what? 🥴

How the hell did you get that from my post about being face to face with Darth Vader or playing poker in virtual reality?

Easy— it’s part of the Society we live in. The rationale gamers use for their pathetic lifestyle. I never met anyone who wanted “fame and glory” in combat. They wanted to kill, some eagerly and others sadistically. Your portrayal reflects ignorance and naïveté. (Learn history before you cite it. The “trenches” you speak of were in WWI not WWII.) Slobbering over virtual “thrill-seeking” needed a reality check. All that said, the Virtual space will allow many a safe refuge to live pretentious lives.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Easy— it’s part of the Society we live in. The rationale gamers use for their pathetic lifestyle. I never met anyone who wanted “fame and glory” in combat. They wanted to kill, some eagerly and others sadistically. Your portrayal reflects ignorance and naïveté. (Learn history before you cite it. The “trenches” you speak of were in WWI not WWII.) Slobbering over virtual “thrill-seeking” needed a reality check. All that said, the Virtual space will allow many a safe refuge to live pretentious lives.

...well I'm guessing you don't play video games lmao.

 

[kc9hzn]

This is why I keep saying VR > AR. There's just way more fun stuff in VR. Stuff like fighting through the trenches of WWII committing espionage for the Allies, or face to face with Darth Vader as he assesses whether or not I'm fit to live or not, or being thrusted into a gladiatorial arena fighting others in the pit for fame and glory, playing poker with some strangers around the world in an old wild west saloon or a spy supervillain's volcano lair. Literally anyone can be a thrillseeker and do things they could never do in real life without any danger.

But that’s gaming, and it’s a category of gaming that likely doesn’t appeal to the majority of casual and semi-casual gamers. Besides, games need some level of abstraction to be fun. I’m not sure whether an authentic experience of trench fighting (ignoring the damp and everything that VR can’t reproduce) would actually be all that enjoyable, the problem is that it might feel too much like work. Game design often needs some level of abstraction because slavishly emulating reality tends to result in either long bits of tedium or stuff that becomes so complex that it’s not fun.

VR gaming is likely going to be pretty niche for the most part, limited to the sorts of hardcore simulation players that already play games like Farming Simulator, Microsoft Flight Sim, Euro Trucker Simulator, etc. There may be some more mainstream experiences than that, but a lot of existing VR games are realistic sims or the VR equivalent of visual novels (heavy on narrative [and immersion because of VR], not so strong on fun interaction). I feel like gaming is already more niche than it was when I was a kid (when it was probably at the height of mainstream popularity), so I’m not really fond of stuff that makes it even more niche, which VR likely will do.

 

[kc9hzn]

I still can not believe this is the meta graphics in 2022. PlayStation Home in 2008 was more advanced lol

But seriously, it’s so cartoony that I can’t take it seriously and I’m surprised that “serious businesses” are taking it seriously to any extent. I don’t want one of those awkward not-quite-you-looking computer generated social media profile avatars that were so popular a few years ago, and I certainly don’t want one of those to be the only things I see when I go online. Only Mark Zuckerberg would think a cartoony metaverse was a good idea.

I mean, if we’re gonna do cartoons, can we at least do styles based on the golden age of American animation? There was an art to it, this stuff looks like a server somewhere just barfed it out or some college student on a dodgy unpaid art internship was forced to make it. Or they outsourced it to Fivver.