"sensible people and businesses. Those who don’t really want to spend £300 to play games, but do want to spend £1000 to read PDFs... that, for some reason, are just flattened JPGs in a PDF container that's been compressed to hell so it could be emailed"
That said, I do kinda wonder how lo-res stuff will look
That's a great comprehensive explanation and assessment Tom. Vision Pro and XR look "interesting". But not so interesting as to instil in me an irresistible urge to spend that much money on an Apple device. Might be my age. There just isn't a Vision Pro shaped hole in my life, so far!
Absolutely - it will primarily be a hobbyist device for a good number of years in my view - but if the hardware gets smaller and the cost comes down, then I believe that by that time, there will be a myriad use-cases for home-use. Definitely a luxury item for sure, but one which at least offers an interesting set of possibilities!
Critics who are questioning the value of the Vision Pro now might not be comprehending what a game-changer it will be for birthday party documentation.
I for one can't wait to capture the disappointment in a child's face - in full, glorious 3D - as I explain how I couldn't afford a birthday present for them due to unforseen luxury purchases.
Thanks for all your diligent and generous work here, as well as the calm and precise “study and tell” which I can *no longer find anymore*( did ya know that many of the Westerners surrounding me even “politicize/Marxist analysis” um 1st world “gadgets” now? ) except here and Mastodon etc, I am saving-bookmarking-screenshooting excerpts-sending to think tank staff for the time capsule-printing out to re-read and repeat like a fawning lecture hall student of yours( only at dinner parties + “the future” work meetings 🔮 ) this article so hard my fingers hurts...
You're very welcome! I agree the temptation to delve into the politics / ethics of these things is difficult to resist these days - but there are enough people doing that kind of thing everywhere else! It's fair enough to criticise things like this in the wider context of the world, but after a certain point, it just becomes background noise. No matter what people might think about whether this tech is worthwhile or not, I'll try to be even handed. I make a living working in this industry and I know from direct experience that this technology can improve people's lives and living standards, as well as provide entertainment value or other benefits. We can assess the good as well as the bad - it does feel like people too often focus on the negative!
I’ve never paid any attention to any of these headsets before. I would be able to name them or tell you their names. But I of course looked at the promo videos for Apple’s one.
What struck me in terms of my personal reaction is that I found myself thinking that I could see myself using a version 4 of this one for the most “mundane” of purposes: working in my office; replacing my dual screen and having a better and more efficient workspace.
Of all the fancy uses of these headsets I’d heard before, I was surprised to see that its biggest attraction for me was to do the basic stuff like emails, browsing, calendar, and (not shown in the Apple promo), I could imagine my IDE in there too.
I agree - I imagine it will take several iterations before people start to treat this as a serious device they might use day to day - but if things go well, I would imagine it will find its place in many people's homes and workplaces. For me, the biggest barrier is the sheer size of these things: but that will come down. Right now, it has to be big because our display, lens, cameras and depth-scanning technology requires it - but it's reasonable to expect the size and cost of these things to reduce over time. Apple certainly has the resources to push things in that direction, at least!
Which do you think will come first: reduction in size to something that can be worn for long periods of time, or... will they just go straight to implants? Like Neuralink - first test subjects getting implanted this year.
Also: off-topic, but it just popped into my head - whatever happened to 3-D printing? Seems like that was all the rage 10 years ago, but I never saw anything beyond demos for use cases that were going to change the world... instead, I just saw a bunch of plastic tchotchkes no one actually wanted. Meh.. I should have just typed this into google...lol
To be honest I'm skeptical that Neuralink will provide the same kind of functionality as a VR / AR headset for a long time, if ever. I would expect size reduction of headsets to become "generally acceptable" long before a brain implant / wetware becomes something viable for the mass market or even provides a fraction of the functionality we've come to expect from hardware!
As for 3D printing - I'm not particularly knowledgeable on that but I know it's being used industrially in certain sectors. Aside from that it largely seems like a hobbyist endeavour. I have a few friends who 3D print components for their own projects or to sell stuff on Etsy etc, but I'm not aware of it being a game changer anywhere really!
"sensible people and businesses. Those who don’t really want to spend £300 to play games, but do want to spend £1000 to read PDFs... that, for some reason, are just flattened JPGs in a PDF container that's been compressed to hell so it could be emailed"
That said, I do kinda wonder how lo-res stuff will look
That's a great comprehensive explanation and assessment Tom. Vision Pro and XR look "interesting". But not so interesting as to instil in me an irresistible urge to spend that much money on an Apple device. Might be my age. There just isn't a Vision Pro shaped hole in my life, so far!
Absolutely - it will primarily be a hobbyist device for a good number of years in my view - but if the hardware gets smaller and the cost comes down, then I believe that by that time, there will be a myriad use-cases for home-use. Definitely a luxury item for sure, but one which at least offers an interesting set of possibilities!
Critics who are questioning the value of the Vision Pro now might not be comprehending what a game-changer it will be for birthday party documentation.
I for one can't wait to capture the disappointment in a child's face - in full, glorious 3D - as I explain how I couldn't afford a birthday present for them due to unforseen luxury purchases.
If the device eventually lets me see through buildings or ride a tour bus in a foreign city, then I might be sold.
Thanks for all your diligent and generous work here, as well as the calm and precise “study and tell” which I can *no longer find anymore*( did ya know that many of the Westerners surrounding me even “politicize/Marxist analysis” um 1st world “gadgets” now? ) except here and Mastodon etc, I am saving-bookmarking-screenshooting excerpts-sending to think tank staff for the time capsule-printing out to re-read and repeat like a fawning lecture hall student of yours( only at dinner parties + “the future” work meetings 🔮 ) this article so hard my fingers hurts...
You're very welcome! I agree the temptation to delve into the politics / ethics of these things is difficult to resist these days - but there are enough people doing that kind of thing everywhere else! It's fair enough to criticise things like this in the wider context of the world, but after a certain point, it just becomes background noise. No matter what people might think about whether this tech is worthwhile or not, I'll try to be even handed. I make a living working in this industry and I know from direct experience that this technology can improve people's lives and living standards, as well as provide entertainment value or other benefits. We can assess the good as well as the bad - it does feel like people too often focus on the negative!
I’ve never paid any attention to any of these headsets before. I would be able to name them or tell you their names. But I of course looked at the promo videos for Apple’s one.
What struck me in terms of my personal reaction is that I found myself thinking that I could see myself using a version 4 of this one for the most “mundane” of purposes: working in my office; replacing my dual screen and having a better and more efficient workspace.
Of all the fancy uses of these headsets I’d heard before, I was surprised to see that its biggest attraction for me was to do the basic stuff like emails, browsing, calendar, and (not shown in the Apple promo), I could imagine my IDE in there too.
Let’s look what versions 3 or 4 look like...
I agree - I imagine it will take several iterations before people start to treat this as a serious device they might use day to day - but if things go well, I would imagine it will find its place in many people's homes and workplaces. For me, the biggest barrier is the sheer size of these things: but that will come down. Right now, it has to be big because our display, lens, cameras and depth-scanning technology requires it - but it's reasonable to expect the size and cost of these things to reduce over time. Apple certainly has the resources to push things in that direction, at least!
Which do you think will come first: reduction in size to something that can be worn for long periods of time, or... will they just go straight to implants? Like Neuralink - first test subjects getting implanted this year.
Also: off-topic, but it just popped into my head - whatever happened to 3-D printing? Seems like that was all the rage 10 years ago, but I never saw anything beyond demos for use cases that were going to change the world... instead, I just saw a bunch of plastic tchotchkes no one actually wanted. Meh.. I should have just typed this into google...lol
To be honest I'm skeptical that Neuralink will provide the same kind of functionality as a VR / AR headset for a long time, if ever. I would expect size reduction of headsets to become "generally acceptable" long before a brain implant / wetware becomes something viable for the mass market or even provides a fraction of the functionality we've come to expect from hardware!
As for 3D printing - I'm not particularly knowledgeable on that but I know it's being used industrially in certain sectors. Aside from that it largely seems like a hobbyist endeavour. I have a few friends who 3D print components for their own projects or to sell stuff on Etsy etc, but I'm not aware of it being a game changer anywhere really!