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Facebook acquires Oculus VR

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Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#211
I have just glanced over the comments on the FB post, am i the only one who is amazed at the "thumbs up" comments and general elation by the 45,000+ people liking the 'news' ?

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Suck has a hundre John Carmacks (of various fields) working for him

Which is sad because in the end Facebook is all about showing ads to people who don't want to see them.

Well just think of Facebook's next product. They make everyone wear VR headsets, then sell "in your face" ads.

They will make billions :(

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#213

I have no idea why Oculus would sell at this point. It feels to me like this is just the beginning of their story and of this technology. Did they just get scared about Sony's Project Morpheus and decide to get out early?

> I have no idea why Oculus would sell at this point.

Money?

> It feels to me like this is just the beginning of their story and of this technology.

That's probably the point, for any technology firm, where the "work done" to "money received" for selling out is the highest.

When it feels like the end of their story and technology, they've missed the ideal time to sell.

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I am shattered right now. Oh come on -- this is just ridiculous. They (Oculus) now have many many more times the resources at their disposal than before to make countless imaginative projects. I know i'll get down votes for saying this, but if Google was the buyer, there would be much more positive comments here. Use some rational analysis here, folks.

Yeah... because Google has experience with this sort of project. It's in Google's wheelhouse, so to speak.

Facebook has gotta start somewhere. I suspect they'll keep the Oculus team in charge.

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am shattered right now. I was so happy for Oculus VR, I wanted it to become big, I wanted it to become something truly special. And now this happens. I'm horrified and speechless. This is the day I stop cheering for Oculus VR and get behind Sony's Morpheus: http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/19/tech/gaming-gadgets/sony-morph... Notch on this deal: "We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I j…

>I am shattered right now. Oh come on -- this is just ridiculous. They (Oculus) now have many many more times the resources at their disposal than before to make countless imaginative projects. I know i'll get down votes for saying this, but if Google was the buyer, there would be much more positive comments here. Use some rational analysis here, folks.

And how many of those countless projects are going to open up new forms of experience, and how many are going to be the equivalent of shoehorning more ads into the facebook feed?

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#216

They have some of the best engineers and VPs in their space, huge hype, mindshare, and by all accounts a kick-ass product. Forget why Facebook is interested, I don't get why Oculus would even consider selling for 10% of a WhatsApp. Their star was rising if anyone's ever was.

No kidding. Their name is Oculus. They are, literally, eyeballs.

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#217
FB gets a lot of hate on HN, but I think this is a really important strategic deal for them.

Consider:

* No one really knows how wearables will play out yet

* It is within the realm of possibility that as headsets get better (end goal: stylish), they will enter the mainstream. This means more content will be consumed there (cellphones are an obvious analogy)

* FB pays to play in this space with a world class team which has shown an ability to produce and iterate on hardware in relatively short time.

* This also gives FB more consumer h/w chops, something it will need as FB integrates with devices that are ever more personal in nature.

It shows that FB is playing offense, working to invent the future, not just resting on its laurels.

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#219

As a game developer that's interested in doing some work with the Oculus, I could see this going one of two ways: 1) Facebook could stay hands off, giving the company the company the breathing room and capital to absolutely revolutionize gaming, and then on to other fields. 2) Oculus as a "communication platform" is attempted too soon and the core team is drawn away working on pet projects resulting in a drastic lack…

As soon as this whole shebang turns out to be good or bad I'm going to point to your comment, reitzensteinm, as having called the result first. People will extol your prescience from misty dale to cloud-tipped mountain top.

Three cheers for the ambivalent future of Facereality and Oculusbook!

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