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The metaverse is already here – it's Minecraft

clivethompson.medium.com

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Re: The metaverse is already here – it's Minecraft

#111

Post by kelnos »

clpm4j wrote: post #18

(Aware of the fact that I'm taking time out of my day to read HN) I really wonder how many adults > 25yrs and < 60yrs have the time to immerse themselves in any type of digital world / metaverse experience. If I was a teenager or in college, then yeah I can see it... but there are so many things to do in the 16hrs we have each day, and I already kick myself for not finishing that book, or getting an extra workout in,…

More like 6 hours, if you consider work time, commute time (for folks who'll still have to do that), meal prep, etc.

But I don't think that's really the point. People use those 6 hours in a bunch of different ways. Some of those hours might be replaced by a metaverse experience entirely (as in, "I used to do play video games on my console, but I can get the same experience, but better, playing games in the metaverse"), and other activities might get nudged out because they aren't as (subjectively) enjoyable as the metaverse to some people. And other people will just not do the metaverse thing, because other activities are more fun to them. FB is betting on the user group being very large, and I don't know that I'd disagree with them.

And the same thing will always happen: people will continue to kick themselves for not finishing that book, or getting that extra workout in. That will continue to be the case with or without the metaverse.

Also consider that something like a metaverse could become the standard way for remote knowledge workers to get in a "room" together to collaborate. That alone seems like a large user base.

Re: The metaverse is already here – it's Minecraft

#112

Post by masona »

clpm4j wrote: post #18

(Aware of the fact that I'm taking time out of my day to read HN) I really wonder how many adults > 25yrs and < 60yrs have the time to immerse themselves in any type of digital world / metaverse experience. If I was a teenager or in college, then yeah I can see it... but there are so many things to do in the 16hrs we have each day, and I already kick myself for not finishing that book, or getting an extra workout in,…

You answered your own question - it's a play for the next generation.

My kids bounce between a multitude of shared digital spaces (games, chat, social, videos etc) and they would be right at home at some kind of metaverse that would bridge them all (if that's even possible).

Re: The metaverse is already here – it's Minecraft

#113

Post by polycaster »

Since I watched the highlights reel mentioned in the article [1] I wonder if there exists sort of a doctrine in recent PR video production to always include a super annoying aspect of choreography to keep people from thinking too long about the actual message.

Here Zuck and friends are trying neurotically to keep their fingertips at 1cm distance at any time. Waving their hands as if they were mockups.

In recent Apple event recordings Tim, Craig and the gang cannot get their feet together like anatomically unchallenged humans would do when standing casually. Always more than shoulder's width apart. I've observed something similar once after a mountain biking contest, got to do something with the saddle.

It's obviously not pleasing to the eye (or is it me?). But I cannot see a compelling reason and I refuse to take this as a coincidence. Why???

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gElfIo6uw4g

Re: The metaverse is already here – it's Minecraft

#114

Post by entangledqubit »

zemo wrote: post #52

Minecraft is great but to my knowledge you can't make a portal in one Minecraft world to another world, you can't take an object from one Minecraft world to another world, and you can't transit from one simulation to another simulation (all Minecraft worlds run the same simulation: the Minecraft simulation). It's not really a metaverse in that it's not one connected uncoordinated space, it's many separate, instanced…

Transferring objects from one world to another may not be desirable for a few reasons. This could lead to coupling of world economies where something that is meant to be - intentionally - scarce in one world now finds itself with an overabundance.

Re: The metaverse is already here – it's Minecraft

#115

Post by kibwen »

Closi wrote: post #107
stormbrew wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not only is it more than just doing things in VR, a metaverse doesn't even require VR. I'm sorry, I think if you want to broaden this term like this you're going to have to stipulate some new boundaries. Else, we've got the metaverse: it's just the internet, and metaverse is just the latest in a long line of silly names for it back to the "internet superhighway". And when Di died or 9/11 happened I had a "shared ex…

I think metaverse is just a fancy name for communicating with people online supported by technology (both present technology, future technology and meatspace communications supported by technology). It’s clear from Facebook’s presentations for instance that they consider text messaging via WhatsApp to class as part of the metaverse. It’s not anything new, but I think the metaverse strategy is basically Facebook sayin…

I would classify it as slightly more than communication; a metaverse also has to give you some way to "inhabit" it. We're communicating on HN, but HN doesn't really have a way to inhabit it, so I wouldn't call HN a metaverse.

Re: The metaverse is already here – it's Minecraft

#116

Post by BTCOG »

bluedino wrote: post #31
clpm4j wrote: post #18

(Aware of the fact that I'm taking time out of my day to read HN) I really wonder how many adults > 25yrs and < 60yrs have the time to immerse themselves in any type of digital world / metaverse experience. If I was a teenager or in college, then yeah I can see it... but there are so many things to do in the 16hrs we have each day, and I already kick myself for not finishing that book, or getting an extra workout in,…

The amount of 25-35 year old adults that play video games is pretty huge.

The amount of 6-60 year old video gamers is huge. 25's a strange number to start, and 35 is far too young to cut off.

Re: The metaverse is already here – it's Minecraft

#117

Post by [deleted] »

stormbrew wrote: post #91
kibwen wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm frustrated that everywhere I look I keep seeing "metaverse" and "VR" used interchangeably. All of the things described above are VR, and none of them are the metaverse. Watching TV or playing a game in an immersive, distraction-free VR environment sounds great, and will happen, and it's not the metaverse, it's just VR. Working in a virtual home office has the potential to be extremely productive, ergonomic, and s…

> Not only is it more than just doing things in VR, a metaverse doesn't even require VR. I'm sorry, I think if you want to broaden this term like this you're going to have to stipulate some new boundaries. Else, we've got the metaverse: it's just the internet, and metaverse is just the latest in a long line of silly names for it back to the "internet superhighway". And when Di died or 9/11 happened I had a "shared ex…

[deleted]

Re: The metaverse is already here – it's Minecraft

#118

Post by me_me_mu_mu »

derac wrote: post #76
vineyardmike wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read a recent interview from mark zuck about the metaverse and someone asked him a similar question. He had an actually really insightful answer. 1) Most american adults watch several hours of TV per day. alternatively, many play a few hours of video games. (The actual per-person-per-day numbers are very high compared to the average 2hr/week i watch tv but whatever). Most of TV and Video Games are about ignoring re…

I'm incredulous that having a screen strapped half an inch from your eyes for 8+ hours is desirable. I have an Oculus Rift, my face is sweaty/red in a couple of hours and there is an indent around my eyes. I'm sure newer tech can be much better, especially with airflow and an AR set that lets in natural light. We're not there yet, though.

In thirty years there will be a startup that you can get affordable eye replacements. Keep burning those eyes!

Re: The metaverse is already here – it's Minecraft

#119

Post by jazzyjackson »

lottin wrote: post #108
thrashh wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the metaverse itself is not content. Instead it’s another medium to consume content. Therefore the metaverse isn’t a replacement for a video games or TV. You would simply watch TV or play a video game while in the metaverse. The metaverse in that regard isn’t a new concept, because VR spaces have existed for a long time now. I’ve watched movies in Minecraft more recently, for example. I’ve seen every idea in the…

> It’s the reason why the Internet took a long time to take off: using the Internet on a desktop computer sucks. When smartphones took off, so did the Internet. What?

Honestly pre-2008 spending time online was pretty niche. I spent maybe a couple hours a day max on MySpace and LiveJournal and maybe a couple of forums once or twice a week. This was between pirating music and burning CDs for friends in high school which gave me a pretty high score on the nerd-index.

I was listening to a podcast on Flat Earthers and the host basically traced the explosion of True Believers to the advent of the smartphone circa 2008 onwards; suddenly hundreds of millions more people were spending hours a day online.

Re: The metaverse is already here – it's Minecraft

#120

Post by zemo »

entangledqubit wrote: post #114
zemo wrote: post #52

Minecraft is great but to my knowledge you can't make a portal in one Minecraft world to another world, you can't take an object from one Minecraft world to another world, and you can't transit from one simulation to another simulation (all Minecraft worlds run the same simulation: the Minecraft simulation). It's not really a metaverse in that it's not one connected uncoordinated space, it's many separate, instanced…

Transferring objects from one world to another may not be desirable for a few reasons. This could lead to coupling of world economies where something that is meant to be - intentionally - scarce in one world now finds itself with an overabundance.

there's only one metaverse, and there's only one economy in the metaverse. I'm not advocating that you should be moving game objects between games, that's a distinct concept (and probably not a very useful one). https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29086415
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