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Apple's Struggles With Long-Rumored AR/VR Headset Detailed in New Report
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The inventor of the iPod knows the technology behind the iPod, but he doesn't know the technology behind VR/AR. Why would anyone listen to him?The inventor of the iPod says it best
iPod Inventor Tony Fadell: 'F*ck The Metaverse' - ExtremeTech
Tony Fadell, inventor of the original iPod doesn't think much of the Metaverse or current social media.www.extremetech.com
That would be fine except I have yet to see one usage case or quality experience of any AR app on iOS or elsewhere. Its a dead end Apple keep chasing.
I'm guessing you weren't there.
The iPhone was the culmination of decades of variations on the pocket computer -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_computer -- versions of which kept popping up and failing until the iPhone got it right. It was hardly a "solution in search of a problem."
And the home computer a "solution in search of a problem"? In the 1970s everyone and their brother offered a home computer -- Commodore, Atari, Sinclair, Radio Shack.
The watch was a solution in search of a problem until they found one: health and fitness. Now the watch is indispensable to millions and continues to grow its customer base each year.
Just because you and I can’t imagine how this product would actually be useful doesn’t mean apple can’t or won’t.
Yes, it was iterative, but the touch-screen keyboard functionality threw people for a loop. The iPhone as a product seemed weird to people, but yes, cellphones were certainly accepted at that point. If we go back to the brick phone stage, then there was equal skeptism for the whole idea of a cellphone.
In the 1970s, the total worldwide PC market totalled a couple of million units at best, and that's being very generous. It took around 15 years for the market to catch on, and for people to get over the whole "This is a fad", "Why do I need one?" "Mine just collects dust" phase.
I definitely agree that this is a niche market currently. Certainly some people are interested though, otherwise I don't think Apple/Microsoft/Google/Facebook would be working on it like they have. I think there are some significant challenges to solve before the average consumer has much interest in it. Mainly like, how can I use this to get immersed in some other world but also not run into one of my walls 🤣
I really don’t see the point of an apple VR headset. They aren’t going to want to use someone else’s metaverse and there isn’t a big game ecosystem on Mac that warrants an apple headset.
Doing AR glasses that are the same size as normal eyeglasses makes a ton of sense. It’s something you can use daily, it’s space where productivity can be increased, and it doesn’t need to rely on other people for success.
Doing AR glasses that are the same size as normal eyeglasses makes a ton of sense. It’s something you can use daily, it’s space where productivity can be increased, and it doesn’t need to rely on other people for success.
Being able to understand others when you speak a different language is dumb?
Google AR Glasses with Live Translations Could Change the World
Google announced augmented reality glasses that show real-time transcription and translation of nearby voices, and it could change the world.
nerdist.com
There are thousands of other AR applications, many of which haven't yet been conceived.
VR is not for everyone but it has its uses as well. I'm even starting to build it in to one of my university courses to supplement learning for those who are interested in using it.
The same was said by iPad critics.
Today, but in 20 years?
I wasn't around when the Apple II came out, but I was when the iPhone launched and that definitely wasn't what people thought. There was a clear evolution from increasingly capable feature phones to early smartphones and the iPhone was just the next step in that evolution.
I burst out laughing at the “imagination” remark. That’s exactly why mixed reality headsets are needed. The vast majority of people have little imagination. Empirical evidence abounds. I am often amused by how “anti-modernity” many Mac posters are. Apple among the richest and most innovative companies in the world with followers who want Tim Cook out, who claim “VR is dead”, and where lower socio-economic class price resentment is pervasive. Apple has smartly ignored the pretentious and often ignorant views spewed here.
It wasn't exactly clear that the touch screen functionality replacing the physical keyboard was an evolution. Plenty considered it a devolution.
Which is exactly why Apple isn’t making one.The inventor of the iPod says it best
iPod Inventor Tony Fadell: 'F*ck The Metaverse' - ExtremeTech
Tony Fadell, inventor of the original iPod doesn't think much of the Metaverse or current social media.
Apple said to have ruled out a metaverse for its mixed reality headset
Apple has apparently rejected the idea of a metaverse for its mixed reality headset — a rejection of Meta's strategy.
www.engadget.com
Yup..
They have a lot more runway to coast on this time thanks to the iPhone and App Store Revenue Monopoly ("services")
Could take awhile before the plane is fully in the ditch...or could be saved if major change occurs while still using up the aforementioned runway.
I actually do see use cases as I pointed them out, and there are more.
But you can't compare this to AW, ho many non-smart watches have been in use before AW? more than a billion and a lot of folks do not use their AW for what you're describing, just look in the AW subforum ...
and comparing it to the iPhone is lame too, how many folks had cell phones prior to the iPhone?
how many folks today have AR/VR headsets? not a lot, very very niche. And AR/VR has been around for a long time, and have not taken off in any way shape or form. I was in charge of evaluation the xybernaut wearable computer almost 20 years ago, cool technology for that time period, we saw lots of opportunities but it was simply cost prohibitive at the time, and nothing really has come out of it ...
I am sure Apple will come up with a solid product, for a niche market and continue to search for problems to solve. I simply don't see it as a mass consumer device.
You’re joking right?
You know the original iPhone faced plenty of development issues as well, correct?
So many in fact that reports are that when jobs introduce the thing in January 2007, he had his demo so mapped out that if he pushed one wrong button the whole thing would crash.
Things like battery life, using glass instead of plastic for the display, and the built-in applications weren’t finalized until days before the product launched.
On top of this let’s not forget that the launch of the iPhone delayed Mac OS X Leopard by almost an entire year, Because all of the Mack product development teams were brought over to work on the iPhone.
It's hard to think about things that are not currently possible.
Broadly speaking, XR will give you control over your visual experience, like we currently have for audio. It'll be your choice to either replace sound/audio or combine, with the usual plea of responsible usage. It may not be natural, but it certainly adds spice to life.
Audio devices have come a long way, from non-wearable to wearable, I see no reason to deny visual devices a similar evolution.
I don't think wearing an XR headset of some sort is really any stranger than people who wear massive headphones in public and mean nothing by it. You do you.
Broadly speaking, XR will give you control over your visual experience, like we currently have for audio. It'll be your choice to either replace sound/audio or combine, with the usual plea of responsible usage. It may not be natural, but it certainly adds spice to life.
Audio devices have come a long way, from non-wearable to wearable, I see no reason to deny visual devices a similar evolution.
I don't think wearing an XR headset of some sort is really any stranger than people who wear massive headphones in public and mean nothing by it. You do you.
Smart watches were in no way an established product category before apple released their watch. It was just as niche as headsets are today. And now the Apple Watch is huge and only getting huger.
You said the headset is a solution in search of a problem. I’m saying apple will do a better job of pointing it in the direction of the right problem than you or I could.
There was more than enough to keep the Apple II going even *before* the killer app, VisiCalc -- the first spreadsheet -- appeared two years later.
I could see an Apple AR rig as an (expensive) add-on for visualization software, including design software. And that would probably be enough to keep it going as it accumulated use cases.
But health trackers were, including the ones that had clock readouts. Not as general a device as the Apple Watch, but clearly an established product category.
I was referring to traditional watches btw ...
Let's have this conversation again 2-3 years after Apple's release of AR/VR ...