Meta Is in a 'Very Deep, Philosophical Competition' With Apple Over the Metaverse, Says Mark Zuckerberg

[MacRumors]

Meta is in a "very deep, philosophical competition" with Apple over the future of technology and the metaverse, the social network's CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees in an internal meeting last month, reported by The Verge.

It's no secret Meta and Apple have been competitors for several years, with the rivalry ramping up in recent years over privacy and the different approaches to user tracking. The competition is expected to heat up as both companies take seemingly different approaches to the "metaverse" and AR/VR. While Meta has begun its journey into the "metaverse," revealing its vision for the future of the internet and releasing accompanying VR headsets, Apple has yet to make a big entrance into the AR/VR space.

That is all set to change, however, as Apple is nearing the launch of its first AR/VR headset for early next year. Responding to a question from an employee over how Apple's launch of an AR/VR headset could impact Meta's plan, Zuckerberg responded by saying it's "pretty clear that Apple is going to be a competitor for us." Zuckerberg continued, saying the competition will go beyond simply offering the best AR/VR hardware and will also play out "philosophically."

I think it's pretty clear that Apple is going to be a competitor for us, not just as a product but philosophically. We're approaching this in an open way and trying to build a more open ecosystem. We're trying to make more stuff interoperable with Android. We're trying to develop the metaverse in a way where you can bring your virtual goods from one world to another. We created the Metaverse Open Standards Group with a bunch of other folks that you just mentioned, and Apple didn't join.

This is a competition of "ideas," Zuckerberg went on to claim in the June 30 meeting. Apple believes in "doing everything themselves and tightly integrating that to build a better consumer experience," he said. On the other hand, Meta sees the need for a "larger ecosystem to exist."

Zuckerberg admits, however, that it's unclear whether a "closed ecosystem," which he claims Apple to have, or an open ecosystem from Meta, would be better suited for the metaverse.

One of the things I think is interesting is that it's not really clear upfront whether an open or closed ecosystem is going to be better. If you look back to PCs, Windows was clearly the one that had a lot more scale and became the default and norm that people used. And Mac did fine, but I think PC and Windows were, I think, the premier ecosystem in that environment.

On mobile, I would say it's more the other way. There's more Android devices than there are iOS devices, but I think in developed countries and places like the US or Western Europe in kind of the high end, [and] a lot of the culture-setters and developers, I do think that skews quite a bit more towards iPhone and iOS. So I'd say on mobile, Apple has really carved out quite a good position for themselves, and that's why they're the most valuable company in the world, or maybe one of the couple most valuable companies in the world.

Zuckerberg said that Meta's north star should be, and is, whether it will be able to get over a billion people into the metaverse, shopping and spending hundreds of dollars in digital commerce.

Our north star is can we get a billion people into the metaverse doing hundreds of dollars a piece in digital commerce by the end of the decade? If we do that, we'll build a business that is as big as our current ad business within this decade. I think that's a really exciting thing. I think a big part of how you do that is by pushing the open metaverse forward, which is what we're going to do.

Wrapping up his response to the question, Zuckerberg summed up Meta's competition with Apple as going beyond simply the metaverse but also the future of the internet as a whole.

So yeah, Apple is going to be a competitor. I think that that's pretty clear, but it's actually a very deep competitor. It's not just [that] they have a device that has some more features than us. It's a very deep, philosophical competition about what direction the internet should go in. And I am proud of the investments that we're making to help push forward the open metaverse on this and hopefully make the next version of computing a bit more open.

You can learn more about Apple's AR/VR plans by visiting our comprehensive roundup.

Article Link: Meta Is in a 'Very Deep, Philosophical Competition' With Apple Over the Metaverse, Says Mark Zuckerberg

 

[Samplasion]

I hate Facebook/Meta and how they keep on babbling about this vr game riddled with microtransactions and NFTs they call the "metaverse"

 

[calstanford]

The thing is Apple and Facebook aren't even competitors. One is a hardware company with software and services on top. The other is a pure internet social networking company (Facebook with feed, instagram for pictures and copying others (tik tok, Snap) and Whatsapp/Messenger for messaging in EU/Asia and US).
Facebook's services run on top of Apple, not in competition with.

 

[The Clark]

Before Zuckerberg came along I was a perfectly content man, enjoying my life and not experiencing any kind of FOMO. Nothing has been the same since 2007 for me.

 

[Hermes Monster]

Before Zuckerberg came along I was a perfectly content man, enjoying my life and not experiencing any kind of FOMO. Nothing has been the same since 2007 for me.

It’s not overstaying it to say that social
media, and FB especially, have irreversibly changed the world for the worse.

 

[StellarVixen]

I think question of open or closed source isn’t the most important one, the bigger philosophical question is what Meta is trying to make of the virtual reality and what Apple is.

Meta’s vision is disturbing to say the least. I think Apple wants to create AR/VR more as an addition to reality, not virtual world separate from reality for people to be voluntarily imprisoned in.

 

[TopToffee]

Couple of years they've been going on about this stuff, and I still don't remotely see what the appeal of the "Metaverse" is

 

[antonrg]

Deleted facebook a while back, NOT interested in all this Meta/NFT/AR/VR stuff. Nature and real life are far more interesting. Thank you

 

[contacos]

I am too old for all this Metaverse stuff. I dont get it. Why would i want to "walk" into a virtual "supermarket" instead of just chilling on my couch and click the "buy now" button on a webpage in front of me OR go to an actual store!

From what I have seen, the graphics also look pretty crap. Randomly saw a clip of some "virtual concert" of a KPop Group and it was super glitchy and badly rendered (is that a word?)

Or this, it is giving me Nintendo 64 vibes:

 

[RammyXX]

Metaverse, NFTs, blockchain, Web 3.0... nobody has any idea how these things will even work, but everybody seems to be too afraid to be late to the party, like they were with Bitcoin. It's the tech companies' FOMO and they all try to drag us into it.

 

[ForkHandles]

Is it just coincidence that Zuckerberg’s metaverse came just months after Spielberg’s “Ready Player One”

I can see it being very successful and Spielberg suing for all the profits. 😂😆🤣

 

[seanmills1020]

All of this Metaverse talk has zuckered me out.

 

[wanha]

I think question of open or closed source isn’t the most important one, the bigger philosophical question is what Meta is trying to make of the virtual reality and what Apple is.

Meta’s vision is disturbing to say the least. I think Apple wants to create AR/VR more as an addition to reality, not virtual world separate from reality for people to be voluntarily imprisoned in.

It's hard to say for sure since we don't really have that many details about Apple's approach to AR/VR, but I get the feeling that you're onto something.

Facebook seems to be building an imaginary world for people to escape to, while Apple is more intent on building an extension to reality.

Time will tell whether this is correct or not, but it's certainly interesting to ponder.

 

[Harvey Zoltan]

Judging by these statements from Mr Zuckerberg I would say yes, there is a profound divide between his company and Apple.

 

[Shadower]

“Our north star is can we get a billion people into the metaverse doing hundreds of dollars a piece in digital commerce by the end of the decade?”

This is why it will fail. They’re focused on the profit, instead of creating a superior user experience.

 

[Schizoid]

If I can pop my normal glasses on and see useful information, look far into the distance, chat to a friend as if they’re next to me, or watch a game of cricket in work, then I’m interested.
If it’s stumbling around with goggles on, checking facebook posts, then I don’t think I’ll bother thanks.

 

[seanmills1020]

It’s not overstaying it to say that social
media, and FB especially, have irreversibly changed the world for the worse.

I am thinking of going back to my PalmPilot.

 

[StellarVixen]

I am thinking of going back to my PalmPilot.

You are joking (maybe), but dumb phones have had a record year in sales ever since the smartphones took over.

 

[infinitejest]

I hate Facebook and what it does to society so much that I wish them nothing but bad things and I hope that soon it will only be remembered as Metafail.

 

[hhsk]

if metashithole succeed on a scale like facebook did.. world is doomed.. but im 100% it wont, because there are just too many of us who wont change random digital bits of 0 and 1 attached to our brain for analog frequencies that compose real world. good luck metazuckemborg.

 

[Celtic-moniker]

I am too old for all this Metaverse stuff. I dont get it. Why would i want to "walk" into a virtual "supermarket" instead of just chilling on my couch and click the "buy now" button on a webpage in front of me OR go to an actual store!

From what I have seen, the graphics also look pretty crap. Randomly saw a clip of some "virtual concert" of a KPop Group and it was super glitchy and badly rendered (is that a word?)

Or this, it is giving me Nintendo 64 vibes:

View attachment 2035108

The technology and structure to do this has existed for ages. 'There' was around from the mid Noughtys. Second life, and more recently in a much more likely vein - VR Chat and Rec Room. Facebook is one-upping the graphics but only ever so slightly. Sorry, I meant Meta are. For a moment there I forgot it was a totally different monitored world within the world.
You've hit the nail on the head though - so much of this reminds me of Microsoft Bob. A gamified and directed experience that actually got in the way of you doing what you need to do. I'm sure there's a prevailing implementation of the technology that could help in communication, but I think Meta suffers from the boffin's curse, a blindness to what everyone else in the world could use it for while they run head-long into all the things that excites them and nobody else.

 

[kiranmk2]

Futurama predicted what the metaverse would look like back in 2000

 

[Will Co]

"Meta is in a 'very deep, philosophical competition' with Apple..."

Only in your tiny little mind, Mark. Only in your mind.

 

[wilhelmer]

Whoever stops wasting money on this bullsh*t first wins the competition. That's for sure.

 

[wonderings]

Is it just coincidence that Zuckerberg’s metaverse came just months after Spielberg’s “Ready Player One”

I can see it being very successful and Spielberg suing for all the profits. 😂😆🤣

You do know it was a book before it was a movie right? I seriously doubt Spielberg bought the complete and total rights to the book.

I don't see how Apple is in competition with Facebook/Meta at the moment. One is in VR, the other is not.

It sounds like a lot of people have not even tried VR with some of the criticism. Graphics are good, especially when you consider the majority of VR users are using the Quest 2, which is a stand alone headset, no PC required. I have watched full length movies in VR in my own virtual movie theatre, looks just as good as in a regular theatre and it is free... relatively speaking.

I view VR right now as the wild west, not one thing has made it explode and taken the world by storm, I do believe something will come out that will. I hope it is not Apple as they are very closed, very slow and far to controlling. Apple is just as data hungry as Facebook, they just use it differently. Apple has your health being monitored, your banking, ID's now, on top of navigation, web browsing and the rest. If you think Apple, a trillion dollar company is not profiting or using this data for their advantage I would say people are naive.

VR is not here to replace the real world, some might escape into it sure, but those same people would escape the real world into a game on console or PC. Personally I use VR mostly for staying connected with friends who are a long distance away, to far to travel to see. This is far more entertaining and more natural connecting in VR then it is over FaceTime.