i wouldn’t normally be concerned since any company releasing a VR product with this price tag is obviously going to fail… but it’s apple and somehow through exquisite branding and sleek design they have managed to create something that resonated with “tech reviewers” and rich folk who can afford it.

what’s really concerning is that it’s not marketed as a new VR headset, it’s marketed by apple and these “tech reviewers” as the new iphone, something you take with you everywhere and do your daily tasks in, consume content in etc…

and it’s dystopian. imagine you are watching youtube on this thing and when an ad shows up, you can’t look away, even if you try to they can track your eye movement and just move the window, you can’t mute it, you certainly cannot install adblock on it, you are forced to watch the ad until it satisfies apple or you just give up and take out the headset.

this is why i think all these tech giants (google meta apple etc) were/are interested in the “metaverse”. it holds both your vision and your hearing hostage, you cannot do anything else when using it but to just use the thing. a 100% efficiency attention machine, completely blocking you from the outside world.

i’m not concerned about this iteration as much as people are not hyped about this iteration. just like how people are hyped about the next apple vision, i’m more worried about the next iterations with somewhat lower price tag and better software availability. i hope it flops and i know it probably won’t achieve any sort of mainstream adoption even if it’s deemed a success because it probably can’t get less bulky and look less dorky, but the possibility is still worrying. what are your thoughts?

    • vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      0·
      9 months ago

      Google glass never actually “launched” in any meaningful sense of the word, and was a rough-as-fuck user experience.

      Ironically what did it in was the ability to record video. People were so panicked about being filmed that they started reacting violently to glass users (called glassholes). From that point on it sort of became a laughing stock. Not cool. A tainted product.

      Apple seems to have mitigated the obvious pitfalls, let’s see how it shakes out.

      • body_by_make@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        0·
        9 months ago

        It’s funny that you don’t know what you don’t know. Google glass definitely launched, and is used by certain businesses. They went B2B instead of B2C and apparently did well enough.

    • thorbot@lemmy.world
      0·
      9 months ago

      “The whole point of AR is that you can look away from ads”

      No, it isn’t.

      “Apple isn’t in the advertising business”

      Yeah they most definitely are, they are just more subtle about it.

      “I doubt people will walk around with this on their heads”

      They already are.

      I’ll stop now.

  • C4d@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    People will rip off the headsets if the ads are too intrusive and annoying. Which is why they’ll either be dead subtle, or they’ll offer you paid ways to avoid them.

    I don’t think there’ll be mass adoption of this either way, mainly because it’s an expensive gadget coming at a time when folks on median incomes are feeling the pinch.

    • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
      0·
      9 months ago

      Which is why they’ll either be dead subtle, or they’ll offer you paid ways to avoid them.

      Apple are masters of subtle corporate propaganda. They’ve indoctrinated a generation of people to believe Android is their enemy by making their messages show up in a less readable colour in the messaging app.

      • richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one
        01·
        9 months ago

        I think that’s mainly in the US, though. For the rest of the world the price tag is too high and the iPhone is the mark of the pretentious or the hipster. Or the iOS developer 😄

        The rest of us are happy with our Android phones.

  • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
    11·
    9 months ago

    Not really worried about this kind of stuff at all. At the end of the day, it’s not like it’s some essential thing people need to live. People have been worrying that every new piece of technology is going to ruin society. This was said about books, raidio, tv, video games, and so on. I don’t think AR tech is going to be any different.

    I imagine that at some point the tech will get miniaturized to the point where AR headsets are basically like glasses. That’s when mass adoption is likely to start happening. I’m also sure there will be open versions of such headsets that can run Linux. It’s just a new more immersive UX, I don’t think it’s anything to get worked up over.

  • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.eeEnglish
    01·
    9 months ago

    I worry about how consumerism and capitalism will kill us all but I don’t give a shit about this in particular. If I saw one in the wild the first thing I would do is give the owner and endless stream of shit for buying such a stupid waste of money.