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Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from consumer plans

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Re: Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from consumer plans

#31

Post by bitL »

slg wrote: post #2

Does this officially place the Magic Leap's consumer device on the list of the biggest vaporware products in the history of the tech industry? I don't know whether there was some tech hurdle they could never get over or if they were just straight up selling a fantasy from the beginning, but this result has seemed to be the likely destination for years.

They have amazing software running on a supercomputer, but weren't able to fit it into a pocket (with their portable NVidia-based device). Maybe in 20 years?

Re: Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from consumer plans

#32

Post by sergiotapia »

prepend wrote: post #23
slg wrote: post #2

Does this officially place the Magic Leap's consumer device on the list of the biggest vaporware products in the history of the tech industry? I don't know whether there was some tech hurdle they could never get over or if they were just straight up selling a fantasy from the beginning, but this result has seemed to be the likely destination for years.

I think it’s up there, but still Google Glass takes the cake (or maybe General Magic). Glass did release limited versions of stuff, unlike Magic Leap, but I think they spent way more money than Magic Leap. Magic Leap raised $2.6B [0]. Although I have no idea how much Google spent, I suspect it’s more than this when you factor in the barges and rollout plan that they had and didn’t use at all. [0] https://www.crunchba…

Glass was killed by a single word: "glasshole" - I've never seen anything else so utterly destroyed so quickly.

Re: Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from consumer plans

#35

Post by iaw »

Andrex wrote: post #17
geerlingguy wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's something about using the word 'Magic' in your company's name [1]; great concept, likely amazing people, but in the end either vaporware or something that's way too ahead of its time. Maybe the 'Magic' is how they are able to get so much funding and attention for so little end result. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Magic

Some names are just too perfect. Starcraft Ghost The Phantom (games console) Duke Nukem Forever (though it eventually did come out)

> Duke Nukem Forever (though it eventually did come out)

Duke Nukem (took) Forever

Re: Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from consumer plans

#37

Post by modeless »

xenospn wrote: post #18

Will VR/AR join 3D TV in the consumer tech hall of shame?

VR is doing fine in gaming. The headsets are sold out everywhere and there are a lot of great games available. It won't overtake 2D gaming anytime soon but there's a healthy market.

Re: Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from consumer plans

#38

Post by prepend »

filoleg wrote: post #6
Ididntdothis wrote: post #3

This is such a weird company. They created big buzz over years and it seems they are just fading away quietly with nothing to show for the money they took in. Reminds me a little of Theranos (although not as criminal). Why do these investors keep pumping so much money into a company that has nothing to show? I thought they do due diligence.

I am not sure if financials really work out the way i assume, so i could totally be talking out of my ass here. But i have a feeling it could work as a really nice money laundering vehicle for investors (even though i dont think it was fully the case here), and the company doesn’t even need to be aware of it. You make X in dirty money, then invest it into a cool sounding company promising groundbreaking stuff that ha…

I think that any funding source would still be subject to US money laundering rules and laws. If I try to invest $5M in Magic Leap, I have to be a qualified investor and the funding has to be received by some US bank. Also, it seems like having these holes in a company’s books would be found by reputable investor’s due diligence since it’s a pretty huge risk that could impact the return.

Not speaking from direct experience, only logical first principles. I think the money needs to be laundered before i vesting in US firms.

Re: Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from consumer plans

#39

Post by DoofusOfDeath »

DonHopkins wrote: post #16
gamegoblin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume they must have had a killer demo. 1. Put the goggles on some investor's head (in a normal looking room, but with known lighting and spatial properties...). 2. Show them some flashy demo that has some limitations, but promise that with their investment, they will be able to remove those limitations. 3. Investors, who probably lack the deep knowledge of optics to know that those limitations aren't so trivial,…

Now with COVID-19, they really DO have a killer demo: 1. Put the goggles on some investor's head. 2. Investor catches COVID-19 and dies. Nobody wants to share VR or AR gear any more. The whole idea of location based VR / AR entertainment centers is deadly now. If it's so great you can't believe it without trying it yourself, and nobody wants to stick their head in a device that anybody else has been drooling and coug…

> Nobody wants to share VR or AR gear any more. The whole idea of location based VR / AR entertainment centers is deadly now.

There's a price range where I could see buying one to be shared by everyone in my house, but not one for each individual.

For example, Valve Index is in that category for me.

Re: Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from consumer plans

#40

Post by strangeloops85 »

slg wrote: post #2

Does this officially place the Magic Leap's consumer device on the list of the biggest vaporware products in the history of the tech industry? I don't know whether there was some tech hurdle they could never get over or if they were just straight up selling a fantasy from the beginning, but this result has seemed to be the likely destination for years.

My take always was that their long-term vision remains very hard to implement in practice, particularly in a consumer-friendly form factor. They should've kept working on it in a R&D capacity in the background, and pushed a more limited AR (or even VR..) product to build a brand, ecosystem and start generating some revenue. And, of course, figure out what the hell their product-market fit was going to be! The quarantine era, in theory, could be a golden age for AR/VR products that deliver a compelling experience.

Which is also to say, the charismatic/ crazy founder with a reality distortion field is great and all, and can move mountains and often succeed - but sometimes reality hits with a thud. To some extent, their challenge was one grounded in physical limitations of our technological capabilities in the 2010s. In the 2030s though..

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