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Why is Apple asleep at the wheel with VR?

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Re: Why is Apple asleep at the wheel with VR?

#21

Post by BuckRogers »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #14
justaman wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to feel like there is a brick strapped to my head.

VR won't be a mass market product until the brick becomes less brick-like. The VR market is likely to be limited to gamers and a few devs for at least the next few years. That's not a tiny market, but it's much smaller than the market for phones and tablets. It's also unlikely to take off until VR becomes social, with couples and families all playing in the same virtual space on the same hardware. Costs and hardware…

Not impossibly expensive, I've already been talking to my wife about this. Building two machines so we can each have our own Vive headset. But in regards to 'impossibly expensive', I'd also consider buying two PS4s with PSVR headsets for the same purpose. We're talking $1,600 total for the next best thing to a holodeck.

If someone delivers the software and it gets rave reviews as a cooperative experience, I will buy those PS4s or build new computers for it. That's how trends start, but the PS4 option for VR brings the cost and complication down considerably for everyone on day one.

Re: Why is Apple asleep at the wheel with VR?

#22

Post by z92 »

smitherfield wrote: post #19
Loque wrote: post #6

VR is not yet 'here' and is not currently delivering, but it is promising a lot. The form factor alone has challenges which the public will not be willing to sacrifice for the experience, which could turn out to be mostly a gimmick. Some things people don't think about; -) looking at your keyboard/input device whilst wearing a VR headset -) being the same room as other people for prolonged periods of time with a head…

To that we can add the biggest problem: nausea.

Nausea probably won't be a problem with the young generation, who will eventually grow up with VR, if it succeeds.

Re: Why is Apple asleep at the wheel with VR?

#23

Post by jballanc »

Does no one remember the Eee PC? The whole "netbook" craze? It was at least 2-3 years that each quarterly earnings call some analyst would ask, like clockwork, why Apple was letting the netbook market get away from them.

Officially, the answer that Apple repeatedly gave was that they "weren't impressed with any of the current offerings" and that they would not "rush to market with a product we're not proud of" (not exact quotes, but probably close enough). The unspoken truth of the matter was that the margins on existing netbooks were razor thin. When Apple finally did introduce the MacBook Air, it was more powerful and with better economics than anything else on the market by far.

The Eee PC was discontinued in 2013. The MacBook Air (and now MacBook) are still going strong today. Of course, this shouldn't be a surprise, Apple did the exact same thing with the MP3 player.

I suspect that something similar is going on with VR (and a whole host of other technologies). Until the first products hit the market and Apple has a sense for how the price/features/demand equation balances out, they'll be more than happy to sit on the sidelines. So no, I don't think there is a skunkworks team fashioning an end-to-end solution. This isn't about Apple not wanting to accommodate third party parts/devices. It's about building something that is good and makes money.

Re: Why is Apple asleep at the wheel with VR?

#25

Post by mikhailt »

The article doesn't go into details as to why Apple should be doing anything with VR that isn't a) a proven technology nor is it b) anything more than a fad.

I've heard of the same thing being said about 3D TV, it quickly died a few years. I have a 3d Projector but never used it. I've tried a few 3D movies but prefer the standard vision.

In addition, we went through the VR fed back in the 90s, just like 3D TV, it died out after a few years.

Google Glass itself died out very quickly as well.

I have zero intentions of wearing a VR headset all day long, so this is ruled out for general computations. Gaming? I've stopped gaming many years ago. So, what is the purpose of VR or even AR for me?

The one single benefit that could convince me to wear an AR glass (Google Glass style) all day long if it comes with closed captioning support for real life, that to me as a hard of hearing person would provide so much benefits.

Re: Why is Apple asleep at the wheel with VR?

#26

Post by Kiro »

smitherfield wrote: post #19
Loque wrote: post #6

VR is not yet 'here' and is not currently delivering, but it is promising a lot. The form factor alone has challenges which the public will not be willing to sacrifice for the experience, which could turn out to be mostly a gimmick. Some things people don't think about; -) looking at your keyboard/input device whilst wearing a VR headset -) being the same room as other people for prolonged periods of time with a head…

To that we can add the biggest problem: nausea.

We have a DK2 at the office and no-one has experienced any nausea. Anecdotal but still, I think that was a much bigger problem with the DK1.

Re: Why is Apple asleep at the wheel with VR?

#27

Post by vlunkr »

Mithaldu wrote: post #3

Apple doesn't innovate. It combines proven technologies into polished products. When VR has proven itself, with R&D investments of other companies, Apple will release a near-perfect refinement of all things VR and everyone will hail them as the savior who brought VR to the world.

> It combines proven technologies into polished products.

Is that not innovation? Maybe technically the iPhone was just a combination of existing technologies, but it went above and beyond them to the point that it was essentially new.

Re: Why is Apple asleep at the wheel with VR?

#28

Post by codybrown »

jballanc wrote: post #23

Does no one remember the Eee PC? The whole "netbook" craze? It was at least 2-3 years that each quarterly earnings call some analyst would ask, like clockwork, why Apple was letting the netbook market get away from them. Officially, the answer that Apple repeatedly gave was that they "weren't impressed with any of the current offerings" and that they would not "rush to market with a product we're not proud of" (not e…

There's a big difference between Apple making their own VR hardware and shipping a computer with a fast enough GPU to run other VR hardware (or ability to have a fast enough GPU via something like the Razer Core).

The latter would be necessary for Apple in the growing VR ecosystem but it could be great for many other areas that require an intensive GPU. And that's the argument of the piece.

Re: Why is Apple asleep at the wheel with VR?

#29

Post by bsbechtel »

mikhailt wrote: post #25

The article doesn't go into details as to why Apple should be doing anything with VR that isn't a) a proven technology nor is it b) anything more than a fad. I've heard of the same thing being said about 3D TV, it quickly died a few years. I have a 3d Projector but never used it. I've tried a few 3D movies but prefer the standard vision. In addition, we went through the VR fed back in the 90s, just like 3D TV, it die…

>The article doesn't go into details as to why Apple should be doing anything with VR that isn't a) a proven technology nor is it b) anything more than a fad.

You could say the same about cars, but Apple is supposedly working on building one. The same could be said about watches before the Apple Watch was released too. I agree with your point, but I'm just playing devil's advocate.

Re: Why is Apple asleep at the wheel with VR?

#30

Post by dave2000 »

vlunkr wrote: post #27
Mithaldu wrote: post #3

Apple doesn't innovate. It combines proven technologies into polished products. When VR has proven itself, with R&D investments of other companies, Apple will release a near-perfect refinement of all things VR and everyone will hail them as the savior who brought VR to the world.

> It combines proven technologies into polished products. Is that not innovation? Maybe technically the iPhone was just a combination of existing technologies, but it went above and beyond them to the point that it was essentially new.

No, it's marketing more than innovation.
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