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Apple’s Vision Pro Is a $3,500 Ticket to Nowhere

vice.com

61–70 of 106 posts

Re: Apple’s Vision Pro Is a $3,500 Ticket to Nowhere

#61
post #5

Steve Ballmer laughing at the iPhone as "the world's most expensive phone" type of moment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U

I keep thinking about the Newton as a distant ancestor of the iPhone. The germ of the idea was there, but the use cases and tech (specifically networking) weren't even close.

How close to prime time is AR?

It's hard to judge that without hands on experience.

Close or not, unlike the mid-90s, Apple can likely afford to burn money for a while on a big gamble. Trying to open up a new product category that plays to Apple's strengths is probably the correct strategy, so long as there isn't a better viable product.

I doubt this will storm the world the same way the iPhone did, so it'll likely be a while before it can be judged as a success or failure.

Re: Apple’s Vision Pro Is a $3,500 Ticket to Nowhere

#62
post #57

Author has not tried the product, and their main points seem to be: 1. Meta makes VR headsets and failed. 2. Vision has a lot of fancy tech, but I don't understand how that helps Apple. 3. People who are excited about Vision also liked Google Glass, a failed product. 4. Big televisions are cheaper. 5. Apple didn't mention motion sickness, so maybe that's a problem. Hope this saves at least someone from a very clickba…

I don't think that's accurate. His main point is that there is no market for this, and the points you mentioned are just digs he gets in whilst Apple's on the ground.

Just like the market for tablets before the iPad and the market for smartwatches before the Apple Watch?

Re: Apple’s Vision Pro Is a $3,500 Ticket to Nowhere

#63
post #45

> repeatedly failed to make a compelling use case for VR over the past decade Well, including me - I'v never wanted to try one as I associated them with games or some meta world I'm not interested. But I haven't been a target for their ads, so I may not know feature set for those. Seeing Apple device, I want to try it out as I immediately see the value in having a nice workspace :) I think everything will depend on e…

Agreed. This week began the first decade of modern AR.

I think all the optimism is confidence that Apple will be developing this product on the way to achieving high volume sales. Then they own yet another new major platform.

10 years may not be too long a slog if you OWN another major platform on the other side.

Re: Apple’s Vision Pro Is a $3,500 Ticket to Nowhere

#64
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article can be summed up as: It's expensive. This is a bullshit device nobody will use because nobody wants VR/AR. It's technically extremely impressive. It's expensive. Nobody will use this except super rich bored people and tech bros. It's expensive.

> Nobody will use this except super rich bored people and tech bros. It's expensive. Funny how we are so used to groundbreaking tech being so "cheap" now. Remember when the Apple II launched at about $6,200 for the base model after inflation? Heck, the Atari 2600 cost almost $1,000 today after inflation. Also, if you want to know how scary the inflation is, here's why your Nintendo Switch still costs $299 new: $299 i…

The Federal Reserve: Don't worry my friend, its all just transitory due to . *Slaps side of money printer* These babies can print us out of any hole!

Re: Apple’s Vision Pro Is a $3,500 Ticket to Nowhere

#65

I think it's really too early too tell. If this article turns out to be wrong, we'll deride it and put it in the same bin as Steve Ballmer's iPhone bashing moment (or 'less storage than a Nomad'), if fails we'll laud it for cutting through the hype. Apple has the integration and hardware expertise to have a good shot at this. But only time can tell if people want it if it is good enough, or whether it turns out to be…

Spot on. The question is whether Vision Pro is the next iPhone or the next Newton, and I have no clue.

Re: Apple’s Vision Pro Is a $3,500 Ticket to Nowhere

#66
I don't know if Apple's "vision" will catch on.

But this article is at the "Old Man Yelling at Clouds" level of analysis.

Many new platforms, form-factors, gadgets, categories of devices , etc. start as "expensive novelty bullshit for rich people". Yet some move past that (and some don't). The author might want to think, for a few seconds at least, about why some do and some don't and whether this one could.

The comparison to Google Glass is particularly lazy. The approach and tech is so different I don't think there's really anything to learn.

Any why even write something like this: "no matter how much they boost it, no normal human being wants to wear goofy-ass goggles so they can attend work meetings in Minecraft."

Hur dur! I think this refers to Meta's clunky/crappy VR meeting software. Apple's approach is obviously different, right? And perhaps Apple will figure out how to make it less clunky and crappy? (Meta may too eventually, but doesn't have that track record). BTW, nobody wants to attend work meetings. Neither VR goggles nor other tech are really the reason.

I guess this is just a long way to say this is a thoughtless throwaway article.

Re: Apple’s Vision Pro Is a $3,500 Ticket to Nowhere

#68
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's accurate. His main point is that there is no market for this, and the points you mentioned are just digs he gets in whilst Apple's on the ground.

Just like the market for tablets before the iPad and the market for smartwatches before the Apple Watch?

Agreed. "There's no obvious market for X" could also mean "all versions of X have sucked so far".

I'm not a VR enthusiast—I don't own any headsets, and will probably not be buying this one—but this is a profoundly lazy article, and not one I'd take seriously as far as judging the merits of Vision.

Re: Apple’s Vision Pro Is a $3,500 Ticket to Nowhere

#69

Commentary feels a bit lazy. Seems to operate on the assumption that it's not different than previous AR/VR offerings in any way. If they can find a million people to watch movies on flights and/or use it as a monitor replacement, and if it works well for those use cases, then Apple will net $3.5B of revenue and have a solid foundation to build on. I don't think the first generation needs to do a whole lot more than…

I’ve heard the flights thing mentioned a few times now. Is that an angle they’re actively pushing? For what it’s worth, I once brought my Quest on a flight. But when it came time to put it on, I couldn’t bring myself to to do it. The idea of becoming a spectacle while simultaneously shutting myself off from everyone around me felt embarrassing.

Yeah, the one ad they showed at the end of the keynote had someone on a plane using the digital crown to increase the immersion while watching a movie.

Re: Apple’s Vision Pro Is a $3,500 Ticket to Nowhere

#70
post #53

Commentary feels a bit lazy. Seems to operate on the assumption that it's not different than previous AR/VR offerings in any way. If they can find a million people to watch movies on flights and/or use it as a monitor replacement, and if it works well for those use cases, then Apple will net $3.5B of revenue and have a solid foundation to build on. I don't think the first generation needs to do a whole lot more than…

A non-lazy rebuttal would include a description of the hypothetical killer app that Vision could support. Apple's got nuthin'. I got nuthin'. Nobody else has anything convincing either.

It doesn't need to have killer app - Apple watch doesn't have killer but still sells well. Playststion or any other console also doesn't have killer app - they are just for entertainment. Oculus mostly focuses on entertainment right now.

For people who are blind the whole device is a killer app, can help reading book or newspaper, help with navigation on the street and warn about danger. Easier for them to find just this goggle computer than phone or computer, eye tracking as mouse probsbly easier to use than mouse.

Even Steven Hawking wouldnt mind using such a device.

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