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

[expectdelay]

I believe Tim is correct on this.
AR is definitely the future (tho it's already happening now) and will be part of all of our day to day interactions.
VR will always be a niche product.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

Guess I'm old (46). I don't want anything to do with this ar/metaverse nonsense at all. I don't want a headset. I don't want glasses. I don't want implants. And I'm super tired of being presented with for-profit visions of the future.

I'm half your age and I feel the same way.

I sometimes feel like I have a different approach to technology than many people my age: I still view computers and phones as tools. Not as a universe to get immersed in or something I want thinking for me. That's why I can't get interested in digital assistants, let alone the "metaverse" and AR/VR glasses/goggles. I like a certain distance between me and technology and I like to have control over it.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

Same age and feel the same. You aren’t old, you’re just getting wiser. Think you’ve said it all with your post.

In what way is it wise to reject AR in totality? You'd have as much difficulty arguing for that position as you would trying to argue against smartphones.

 

[Analog Kid]

Metaverse is a word that precedes Facebook, having first been used in the sci-fi novel "Snow Crash," but Facebook has embraced it

I swear, this company can destroy anything it touches...

Snow Crash is an epic novel. Facebook is the only path I can imagine towards a future more dystopian than the one already presented.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

I believe Tim is correct on this.
AR is definitely the future (tho it's already happening now) and will be part of all of our day to day interactions.
VR will always be a niche product.

Or you know, they can both be a huge part of the future. Not hard to imagine.

 

[boswald]

I think we should learn how to treat each other in this universe before we screw up another one.

 

[vegetassj4]

They should use a more accurate avatar for Zuck:

 

[expectdelay]

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.

IMO AR and VR are very different prospects and require very different interaction. It's worth reading up on before you dismiss it. AR is like a heads up display overlaid on reality. I'm driving and I look over at a gas station. I see the price. My AR (a heads up display projected on the inside of the windshield) tells me theres a cheaper place a few blocks down, I agree to go there, the driving directions appear on the road ahead of me. The A is Augmented - it's not a replacement or virtual world.

 

[caribbeanblue]

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

 

[MathersMahmood]

AR is one thing i will never use. I am glued to tech as it is and i think living in a headset would be too far for me.

 

[coolbreeze2]

Enough talk about it Apple. Ship it.

 

[1557750]

In what way is it wise to reject AR in totality? You'd have as much difficulty arguing for that position as you would trying to argue against smartphones.

In what way is it wise to reject crack cocaine? Probably because you don’t have a want/need for it, and you don’t want something controlling your life.

AR is fine if you have a reason to use it. View the World however you want. But I can reject anything I want. I use my smartphone to make calls, emails, banking and taking pictures. I don’t need AR/VR for that.

Someone telling me AR is the future, or that me putting on a AR/VR headset is the future, has lost their minds. I watch a movie for fantasy, I don’t need my life to become fantasy. I’m perfectly fine with MPR (My Physical Reality).

 

[expectdelay]

Or you know, they can both be a huge part of the future. Not hard to imagine.

I don't see a future where VR becomes anything more than occasional entertainment. Not a huge part of peoples lives. But hopefully we both live long enough to find out.

 

[_Spinn_]

I really hope the metaverse fails. Social media has caused enough harm to society as it is. I can't imagine how much damage the metaverse will cause.

 

[barkomatic]

I'm excited about AR and VR, but I doubt it will be implemented in a way that will ultimately enhance our lives in a meaningful way.

I really don't want a constant overlay of AR menus in my life. They will be optional and entertaining at first, but eventually they'll make it so that you need them to function in modern life. As Tim said, we'll wonder how we ever lived without them--because we literally won't be able to.

 

[spinedoc77]

Yep because people will want to walk around with that atrocious ski goggle concept everyone throws around. I do think Cook is right, he's just 10 years too early, I'll patiently wait for AR contact lenses to be perfected and cheap enough for every day consumers (https://www.mojo.vision/mojo-lens).

The metaverse also has a ton of potential for income, gamers have been doing it for decades now, but they had to go and muck it up with NFTs.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

In what way is it wise to reject crack cocaine? Probably because you don’t have a want/need for it, and you don’t want something controlling your life.

AR is fine if you have a reason to use it. View the World however you want. But I can reject anything I want. I use my smartphone to make calls, emails, banking and taking pictures. I don’t need AR/VR for that.

Someone telling me AR is the future, or that me putting on a AR/VR headset is the future, has lost their minds. I watch a movie for fantasy, I don’t need my life to become fantasy. I’m perfectly fine with MPR (My Physical Reality).

That's a false equivalency. AR is by definition the most general purpose technology that has been invented.

Why? Because it would subsume almost all the usecases of almost all devices we use today, before it starts creating lots of new usecases.

There's the reason to use it. It's everything we already have, but faster, more versatile. Why make calls with a smartphone, do banking, or take pictures when your device is slower at doing these tasks?

No one says your life has to become a fantasy by using AR. That's just one usecase - you could be as professional and business focused as you need with it.

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

Mark has watched Ready Player One too often I guess...

Don't get me wrong... VR and a VR world is an evolutionary consequence of the current technological developments... but it might come to life not in the way it is imagined now. In particular VR may only see it's breakthrough when VR googles are full-face with a built-in camera that can capture face expressions (or even the entire face and stream it in 3D to the avatar)... Before that VR doesn't deliver on the "face to face" experience a VR world desperately needs.

The problem with VR is generally to delivery on "R"... The "Virtual" part is rather easy but making it feel like reality is the challenge... Imagine standing in front of a mirror in a VR world... This is where a lot of todays ToDo's become obvious...

VR still has a long way to go... at least for a VR world.

 

[NY Guitarist]

Question: What is Metaverse?

Answer: Laughable.

It's not the technology that's the problem.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

Mark has watched Ready Player One too often I guess...

Don't get me wrong... VR and a VR world is an evolutionary consequence of the current technological developments... but it might come to life not in the way it is imagined now. In particular VR may only see it's breakthrough when VR googles are full-face with a built-in camera that can capture face expressions (or even the entire face and stream it in 3D to the avatar)... Before that VR doesn't deliver on the "face to face" experience a VR world desperately needs.

The problem with VR is generally to delivery on "R"... The "Virtual" part is rather easy but making it feel like reality is the challenge... Imagine standing in front of a mirror in a VR world... This is where a lot of todays ToDo's become obvious...

VR still has a long way to go... at least for a VR world.

Zuck's team already has that in their labs.

 

[fontman]

I'm sorry generation of people that can only respond to a screen that is just sad.

 

[1557750]

That's a false equivalency. AR is by definition the most general purpose technology that has been invented.

Why? Because it would subsume almost all the usecases of almost all devices we use today, before it starts creating lots of new usecases.

There's the reason to use it. It's everything we already have, but faster, more versatile. Why make calls with a smartphone, do banking, or take pictures when your device is slower at doing these tasks?

No one says your life has to become a fantasy by using AR. That's just one usecase - you could be as professional and business focused as you need with it.

So, me as a consumer don’t have the right to dismiss/reject an idea because I have no use for it? Hmmm…

If AR helps in medical practices and surgeries, I wish them all the best of luck with using that technology to their benefit. I personally don’t need it.

And I’m not as concerned about AR as I am VR and whatever Metaverse/Appleverse or Lawnmower-Man-Verse that comes along with it.

My response to someone’s post wasn’t specifically just about AR. They posted they “wanted nothing to do with this ar/metaverse nonsense” which I agreed with. What business is that of yours?

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

This is why I keep saying VR > AR. There's just way more fun stuff in VR. [...]

AR and VR are two entirely different concepts that have absolute nothing to do with each other aside motiontracking. AR has little potential for gaming, but for professional industries... AR can be a game changer.
Mechanics that can have the instructions delivered in real time into their field of vision and potentially being guided by another expert probably on the other side of the planet can increase efficiency of some tasks by over 30% easily and allow for remote execution of tasks that would not have been possible like that before. The potential of AR imho is GREATLY underestimated...

The first company to deliver such AR hardware & software for a reasonable price with an Apple like usability level will become a billion dollar company in no time...

 

[DarthBuzzard]

So, me as a consumer don’t have the right to dismiss/reject an idea because I have no use for it? Hmmm…

If AR helps in medical practices and surgeries, I wish them all the best of luck with using that technology to their benefit. I personally don’t need it.

And I’m not as concerned about AR as I am VR and whatever Metaverse/Appleverse or Lawnmower-Man-Verse that comes along with it.

My response to someone’s post wasn’t specifically just about AR. They posted they “wanted nothing to do with this ar/metaverse nonsense” which I agreed with. What business is that of yours?

Never said you don't have the right. It's not about the right to dismiss. It's about whether there's any logical reasoning behind your dismissal.

You say you don't need it, but do you know the usecases for it? Because until you do, how can you know? I explained how it would outperform your current devices, which to me sounds like you would benefit from it, but what about all the new usecases it can provide. Did you give any thought into those? Because wisdom requires careful thought put into grand statements.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

Even assuming continued miniaturization and falling prices, a VR headset is still going to be a big, weird kinda bulky thing you have to wear on your face, and which only one person can use at a time (and which you need to remember to plug in to charge after you're done). People are not going to ditch simple big screens for that. VR will always remain a niche product suitable for certain games and 3D visualizations, but the simplicity of a 2D screen you can instant look at and look away from with your ordinary unaugmented eyeballs will continue to reign supreme for the vast majority of information consumption, communication, and entertainment.

VR headsets have been big and bulky, but we don’t know what Apple has designed. I see the fact that only the wearer eyeballs can see the content as an opportunity — imagine selling tickets to a film, concert, or event that is only viewable through VR — and what if this content cannot be copied or shared? This alone could completely change entertainment in terms of cost and scale.