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Virtual Reality is going to change the world

notch.net

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Re: Virtual Reality is going to change the world

#81

Post by samstave »

smacktoward wrote: post #27
skore wrote: post #4

For a guy who is otherwise rather easy going, Notch can be incredibly pragmatic and strident. Here, he has cut to heart of the issue. > And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition. > Don’t get me wrong, VR is not bad for social. He is right - "social", especially in the way Facebook is doing it at the moment, is terrible for VR. Terrible for any technolog…

> And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition He really puts his finger on one of the reasons why this deal feels so weird here, I think. Nobody who contributed to the Oculus Kickstarter did so because they were hoping Oculus would get flipped to a mega-corp. They didn't do so because they wanted the Oculus team to have a big, splashy VC-style exit. They…

Personally, I think this illustrates a severe gap in how crowd-funding works.

10K drops by an individual are no different than an angel investor.

There should be a chip-in-level for crowd-funding campaigns that require the OP to provide some % equity into the project.

Re: Virtual Reality is going to change the world

#82

Post by whatisa »

paulhauggis wrote: post #66
smacktoward wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition He really puts his finger on one of the reasons why this deal feels so weird here, I think. Nobody who contributed to the Oculus Kickstarter did so because they were hoping Oculus would get flipped to a mega-corp. They didn't do so because they wanted the Oculus team to have a big, splashy VC-style exit. They…

Is this the equivalent of a fan hating an indy band for "selling out"?

A better analogy - fans pay an artist up front to record an album, said artist then uses the resulting success to produce a different genre of music for a major label under an exclusive contract.

Re: Virtual Reality is going to change the world

#83

Post by mcphage »

foobarian wrote: post #61
interpol_p wrote: post #35

From Notch: > Don’t get me wrong, VR is not bad for social. In fact, I think social could become one of the biggest applications of VR. Being able to sit in a virtual living room and see your friend’s avatar? Business meetings? Virtual cinemas where you feel like you’re actually watching the movie with your friend who is seven time zones away? Do people really see this as the mainstream use of VR? Do people really se…

Let's not forget that other application area that has historically proven very helpful at driving early adoption of new media. From the Gutenberg press, through celluloid, CDs, GIFs, to the Internet. Hint: starts with 'p', ends with 'orn.'

mcphages-mbp:~ mcphage$ cat /usr/share/dict/words | grep '^p.*orn$'

palpicorn

peppercorn

pibcorn

pilcorn

plenicorn

plumicorn

popcorn

preadorn

preborn

prestubborn

pronghorn

Hmm... I think you mean "peppercorn", yah? Those motivated a lot of international trade.

Re: Virtual Reality is going to change the world

#84

Post by threeseed »

ekianjo wrote: post #71
bps4484 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were almost certainly in touch before, but the deal being done in 5 days means that the sony announcement could have been the event that pressed the oculus team at look at an acquisition more seriously.

I think it's the other way around. Because of Sony's involvment, I'd say investors from probably many large companies were pressed to buy stake in Occulus Rift ASAP to make a dent in the VR market should it become big. Facebook probably had the biggest offer on the table and that's the end of the story.

I doubt it was just money. Facebook has also shown that when they acquire companies they generally leave them alone.

That is so much more important to a startup than just money.

Re: Virtual Reality is going to change the world

#85

Post by samstave »

ekianjo wrote: post #70
skore wrote: post #4

For a guy who is otherwise rather easy going, Notch can be incredibly pragmatic and strident. Here, he has cut to heart of the issue. > And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition. > Don’t get me wrong, VR is not bad for social. He is right - "social", especially in the way Facebook is doing it at the moment, is terrible for VR. Terrible for any technolog…

> He is right - "social", especially in the way Facebook is doing it at the moment, is terrible for VR. Terrible for any technology that has such an incredible potential to change the world. It's not just that. VR is not going to be a product that appeals to masses. I don't think it will change the world. It could impact the world of gaming, potentially, and only CERTAIN areas of gaming only. There are several reason…

>I don't think it will change the world

When you have a clear visor that you're looking through that will seamlessly super-impose exactly matched visuals to reality with enriched data... yes it wil change the world.

Follow the calendar of the Mayans; everthing in cycles. Observe these cycles for great benefit!

In this case, industry cycles around new tech will revolve. Certain circles will reach maturity, age and collapse. All circles will repeat an evolving pattern, spiraling out...

This is how technology evolves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMY_JlBfClI

AND

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie-6tcX5jKg#t=15

Think of each end-point of an arm of the spiral as a market leader in that category.

They will evolve, separate, matasticize and cannabalize the other objects in their tech-arm-thread.

We need another visualization of colliding spirals to illustrate this -- but they all start to grow from similar seeds....

Re: Virtual Reality is going to change the world

#86

Post by weixiyen »

ekianjo wrote: post #70
skore wrote: post #4

For a guy who is otherwise rather easy going, Notch can be incredibly pragmatic and strident. Here, he has cut to heart of the issue. > And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition. > Don’t get me wrong, VR is not bad for social. He is right - "social", especially in the way Facebook is doing it at the moment, is terrible for VR. Terrible for any technolog…

> He is right - "social", especially in the way Facebook is doing it at the moment, is terrible for VR. Terrible for any technology that has such an incredible potential to change the world. It's not just that. VR is not going to be a product that appeals to masses. I don't think it will change the world. It could impact the world of gaming, potentially, and only CERTAIN areas of gaming only. There are several reason…

You're going to read this in 10 years and look like the guy who predicted the iPhone to be a flop. Usable VR is absolutely world-changing.

Re: Virtual Reality is going to change the world

#87

Post by calbear81 »

smacktoward wrote: post #27
skore wrote: post #4

For a guy who is otherwise rather easy going, Notch can be incredibly pragmatic and strident. Here, he has cut to heart of the issue. > And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition. > Don’t get me wrong, VR is not bad for social. He is right - "social", especially in the way Facebook is doing it at the moment, is terrible for VR. Terrible for any technolog…

> And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition He really puts his finger on one of the reasons why this deal feels so weird here, I think. Nobody who contributed to the Oculus Kickstarter did so because they were hoping Oculus would get flipped to a mega-corp. They didn't do so because they wanted the Oculus team to have a big, splashy VC-style exit. They…

How is pre-ordering not just a form of fundraising on Kickstarter that skirts the laws around crowsourced investing? Couldn't a startup just go on Kickstarter, promise some type of product to be delivered x months in the future, raise their seed and focus on getting bought w/o ever having to give up any equity?

Re: Virtual Reality is going to change the world

#88

Post by BeggarsAll »

I completely agree with Notch on this one. Facebook are just buying Oculus because they need to show the investors and board they can innovate. Facebook is a dying product, they're losing users, making bad design decisions and know the only way to remain relevant is to buy up other business regardless of the niche.

Re: Virtual Reality is going to change the world

#89

Post by issa »

mcphage wrote: post #83
foobarian wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's not forget that other application area that has historically proven very helpful at driving early adoption of new media. From the Gutenberg press, through celluloid, CDs, GIFs, to the Internet. Hint: starts with 'p', ends with 'orn.'

mcphages-mbp:~ mcphage$ cat /usr/share/dict/words | grep '^p.*orn$' palpicorn peppercorn pibcorn pilcorn plenicorn plumicorn popcorn preadorn preborn prestubborn pronghorn Hmm... I think you mean "peppercorn", yah? Those motivated a lot of international trade.

My new best friend.

Re: Virtual Reality is going to change the world

#90

Post by SolarUpNote »

xpose2000 wrote: post #3

I can see the avalanche of negativity coming, and I understand why. However, I don't think we should automatically assume it's a negative thing like Notch did. Facebook can try to ensure that the games are geared towards social interactivity that benefits their platform, but in the end, the developers truly pick the direction. Anyone can buy a dev kit and see what they can build with it. Maybe Facebook wants Oculus R…

> I definitely want to be a part of VR, but I will not work with Facebook. Their motives are too unclear and shifting, and they haven’t historically been a stable platform. There’s nothing about their history that makes me trust them, and that makes them seem creepy to me.

Interesting how it all boils down to trust. You could think of all kinds of amazing possibilities, but if you don't trust them, it's 100% off.

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