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Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

bloomberg.com

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Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#131

Post by staunton »

nagisa wrote: post #107
justapassenger wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, it means that tech is still not ready for a mainstream adoption. You should take it out of the box and it should just work. I cannot imagine people being excited that they need to go physical store and deal with a staff there to get their fancy new toy.

There's a non-trivial portion of population that is familiar with the concept of having products fit to them personally: made-to-order uniforms, glasses, other sorts of assistive products. I find it surprising that this is less common than it was in the past, and that people are more willing to put up with something that’s a subpar fit for them. One tech example that would benefit from custom fit are in-ear headphone…

Fitting and customizing things takes time and is expensive. That fully explains the trend. Before industrialized mass production, making an item by hand and to fit someone's specific needs was only slightly more effort than to make some "average" fit item.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#133

Post by goosedragons »

scarface_74 wrote: post #120
Shawnj2 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s pretty reasonable to share iPads and Macs between people, especially people who can’t afford individual devices for everyone separately. If I bought a VR headset for $3500 anyone being able to use it would be extremely useful

What’s the overlap of people who can’t afford multiple $330 low end iPads and people willing to spend $3500 on a headset?

They do sell more expensive iPads. Not exactly unreasonable to want to share a $1000+ nice iPad Pro among a few people rather than buy multiple bottom tier devices.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#134

Post by spdif899 »

makeitdouble wrote: post #111
Version467 wrote: post #85

The Bigscreen beyond requires a face scan and generates a custom interface to fit each persons face perfectly. Everything I've read indicates that this actually improves fit and comfort. It helps that the bigscreen beyond is incredibly light and small, but the face scan doesn't seem to be a gimmick. The Vision Pro might end up a complete failure, but requiring an appointment and a face scan is not a sign for this.

This also means the device will be suboptimal for anyone other than the primary wearer. While the personalized parts can probably be bought for a whole household and swapped by the user, when including lens correction for instance it's just not practical and it becomes a single owner device.

This conversation raises two questions:

1. How much room in the headset is there for glasses? I can wear glasses relatively comfortably in existing gaming headsets like the Vive, Index, and Quest.

2. What are the stats on likelihood of requiring corrective lenses across a group of people, and what subset of those exclusively wear glasses?

If I had a friend with one of these and they didn't accommodate glasses on the wearer, I'd just wear contacts to do a demo. If I were spending $3500 on a setup at home, I probably wouldn't scoff at an accessory cost alongside it to get lenses for a family member.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#135

Post by mjamesaustin »

Macha wrote: post #105
dagmx wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the battery has a usb-c port in photos that implies you can charge it while using it.

So do my headphones, but I can't charge them in use either.

The first thing Apple says about battery life is "all day while plugged in". The device is intended to be used as long as desired while plugged in, just like a laptop.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#136

Post by drewg123 »

This product has opened my eyes to "AR" glasses in general, but I think its way overkill for what I want to do.. My use case is being able to code with a giant screen anywhere (plane, hotel room, etc). I just want a few giant editor windows and terminals open. I don't care about gaming, AR gimmicks, etc.

From what I understand, there are a number of sub $500 options. (xreal air, rokud air, TCL NXTWEAR, etc). However they all get very mixed reviews. I wish there was a retailer that had demo units, as this is something I'd very much like to try before I buy.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#137

Post by smoldesu »

scarface_74 wrote: post #110
pavlov wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes it a bit harder to create positive word of mouth, though. You can’t just try out the Vision Pro fitted for a friend or family member.

Yes you’re right. If only Apple knew how to generate buzz and convince people to pay more for its products than competitors…

Meta has neither of those things and still managed to sell 15-20 million Quest units. If Apple is projecting less than a million units sold this year, they're going to have a hard time catching up to Meta's install-base, let alone their MAU count.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#138

Post by pavlov »

scarface_74 wrote: post #110
pavlov wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes it a bit harder to create positive word of mouth, though. You can’t just try out the Vision Pro fitted for a friend or family member.

Yes you’re right. If only Apple knew how to generate buzz and convince people to pay more for its products than competitors…

Sure, Apple knows how to market.

But with the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Watch, they also had an army of enthusiastic users who would show off these portable devices to all their friends and acquaintances. An ad hoc product demo given by someone you know is often worth more than thousands of dollars in traditional marketing.

With the Vision Pro, it’s not obvious that users can give demos so easily. There’s custom face fit, prescription lenses, and hygiene questions.

Their previous hit devices were famously “one size fits all” — the billionaire’s iPhone is the same as everyone else’s. The Watch has a bit of customization, but the Vision Pro takes it beyond fashion into a necessity.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#140

Post by beanjuice »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #81
gibbitz wrote: post #24

Even if they came to my house to fit me with it I wouldn't buy it. What problem is it solving for someone other than Apple? We've been seeing this AR pipe-dream for 10+ years and it hasn't caught on. Not because the technology was bad, but because people just don't want it. What Apple is missing here is that people wanted the iPhone (a phone with an iPod built in) for years before it was even officially announced as…

I agree with you. I may be an old man, but what I want is the opposite of immersive technology. Put a computer on my face? Are you kidding? The one in my pocket already feels increasingly parasitic.

In a converse way, what could be more freeing to our living spaces than confining our access to technology to such a secluded and particular space?
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