No matter if you feel the price tag is too high, or feel it’s a gimmick that won’t appeal to many, the Vision Pro will usher in a new era of apps and products.
To me, this is similar to when the iPhone was getting ready to be released. Many said it was expensive, had no keyboard, was too big and wide to be comfortably held, and would never sell. That all started to change once people got their hands on the device.
I feel that the Vision Pro will have the same effect, but this is one device you’ll truly need to test out and experience. Based on those that have been fortunate enough to actually use it, it’s not a gimmick.
I had a phone in my pocket before the iPhone came out. It was quite similar. It replaced an existing item that had room for improvement.
These goggles are not replacing or upgrading anything.
Not saying it’s a bad product but I disagree with your take on it being similar to the iPhone. It’s too niche and too expensive.
This is my issue with the Vision Pro, as well. They’re much better than any other VR/AR headset that’s ever come out in almost every aspect. But, they don’t do the one thing that people have found useful for the hardware category – connect to a powerful gaming computer – and I just don’t have a usecase they fill.
Yeah. Seems ridiculous to imagine buying a headset for $3400 and then needing to buy another headset to actually play games and even if you could find a way to pipe input from a gaming rig, you still have no controllers. Once again we see Apple ignoring established standards at the expense of their customers and selling it as gods gift to the world.
@JiveTurkey @Telodzrum you can connect them to a Mac, wirelessly, and interact with it. And you can use other consoles controllers. PS an XBox controllers are fully compatible. Gaming has not been the focus with the Vision Pro, because the intention is to move beyond that. They can be an amazing working and creative device. But, if you want to play games, iPad games work great in it, and remote play apps too!
They’re more powerful because with tax they’re almost $4,000. Anyone can make a great headset that sells for $4k, but that’s not going to get adopted.
I think you’re forgetting how much the iPhone cost compared to the other phones of the time (and some that were even free with service). Now, no one thinks twice about spending $600 on a smartphone.
It’s like you said projectors would replace TVs. But projectors are closer to TV than VR is to a monitor, they are more mature and much closer in price to TVs, yet most people own TV, and projectors are not common.
VR is a niche and always will be. It’s not more universal nor more practical than screen, and nothing will change that.
Ding ding. My iPhone is incredibly useful and replaced many other electronics that existed before.
It is the backbone of my social communication, which guarantees usefulness.
My life doesn’t change with the Vision Pro at all.
These goggles are not replacing or upgrading anything.
Um. Yes they are. Meta Quest, Microsoft HoloLens, etc.
Sure - those might be products you don’t currently use… but I’d argue that’s likely because they’re not very good. A lot of people didn’t use smartphones either before the modern smartphones became a thing.
Yeah I’m sorry to tell you that it’s just not a big thing. Is it cool? Sure. But I don’t need it, won’t buy it, and probably wouldn’t even if it was affordable (which it isn’t).
I’m not going to argue with you about this, so we’ll just have to wait and see who’s more “correct”.
Cheers.
Yeah. I don’t think any of this has been proven out. There is a lot of wait and see still to come in the world of VR/AR.
I’m really curious what the tipping point will end up being. It does not feel like Apple Vision Pro is locked in to be that thing. But it will position Apple well if something does come along that is the tipping point.
A big part of the reason it’s not a big thing is because of how fucking disgustingly bad the hardware is.
You can ignore the fact that you can see pixels on other headsets a lot of the time, but pretty much only for games. You can’t for very many of the use cases Apple has been showing. They kill text clarity, and they (and latency, and smashing the color space) kill passthrough.
Apple waited until they could make something over the bare minimum threshold for actually using it for things that aren’t games.
And they are not filling a void. The beautiful part of the iPhone was that it made it possible for someone to have a full fledged computer in your pocket with access to the internet. This is tethering you more to your space. The applications are limited. Do I need to see an avatar in my FaceTime call? No. It’s hard to see a scenario where this has utility outside of the things that a new iPhone can do.
I know it’s pie in the sky but in my most optimistic dreams I can see building virtual offices and having the benefits of in person interaction with coworkers while still having the benefits of a work from home situation (commute, bathrooms, comfort, etc…).
Some companies, like Nabu Casa, are already using Quest headsets in this way to conduct their meetings since they’re an entirely remote company.
There’s a void in how geeky you can be playing Pokémon Go …. Although seriously …. I wouldn’t buy them for that purpose but I really want to try that
Everyone talks about avoiding oculus products because of the walled garden of available apps, but these are gonna change the world? It’s just a bigger garden with a bigger wall, I just don’t see it happening.
The feeling I get from people that avoid Facebook products is not due to the walled garden but instead due to the company that makes the product.
I don’t want to strap a data collection device to sell me more ads to my face. Hence, I won’t buy an HMD from an advertising company.
Apple is not an advertising company. Yes they advertise on their own properties but a majority of their revenue does not come from ads. As such, Apples incentives are drastically different than Facebook, so I will buy hardware from them.
The iPhone was expensive when it came out, but it was still within the realm of affordability. It was only $100 more than I paid for my Razr. This, on the other hand, is outrageously expensive. I can’t see people buying one until the price comes down significantly.
These will be successful, but nowhere close to the levels of the iPhone. They are too expensive and lacks the everyday use cases for most people. Besides, Apple cannot even make them in super high numbers.
Gotta wonder how much of the author’s amazement stems from the fact that they weren’t really into VR before. Most of the experiences they described have been around since 2016.
