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Meta Horizon OS

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Re: Meta Horizon OS

#281

Post by TiredOfLife »

vineyardmike wrote: post #57
crmd wrote: post #28

I wonder if this "opening" of the operating system is their way of putting the metaverse project out to pasture - analogous to donating it to the Apache Foundation - without admitting that the company burned $36 billion on a misadventure.

1. Zuck always wanted to own a platform. He was a developer at heart and wants a product that developers can build on. He’s personally invested in this. 2. I’m pretty sure a lot of the cost quoted for their “Metaverse” stuff included their CapEx for a ton of GPUs which probably have a lot of other uses within the company.

Meta reality does a TON of research.

Re: Meta Horizon OS

#282

Post by vundercind »

Capricorn2481 wrote: post #225
baby wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s crazy because if you try the Quest it’s quite insane how good it is already. If I were to guess what could give it an iPhone moment: - lighter/more comfortable - faster to get started when you put the headset on - more social experiences and event organized in VR - shorter time from headset on to hanging out with your friends in VR A number of years ago I convinced a bunch of my friends to buy the Quest after be…

> - lighter/more comfortable It's this and one other point: Games that people aren't bored of in an hour. To me, very few games have come out for VR that don't feel like gimmicky experiences. Even Half Life Alyx, as advanced as it was, kinda felt like a theme park ride after a while. I'm not sure if there's technical reasons for it, but it feels like nobody is taking VR development seriously. It's hard to justify str…

I game quite a bit and had access to multiple headsets at home because of the work my wife did, for a couple years. Official permission to use the hardware for whatever.

I tried beat saber for like 10 minutes and never bothered with anything else. The headset’s just too big a hassle, and blocking out the world sucks a lot.

Plus I can’t help but think of the VR headset guy from the Pearl Jam video “Do the Evolution” when I look at the damn things.

Kinda like how I think of the dad from Serial Experiments Lain any time one of my kids walks in and I’m in front of a glowing screen.

Gross.

Re: Meta Horizon OS

#283

Post by beachy »

vineyardmike wrote: post #191
TeMPOraL wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how 1. works. Won't any developer tell you that platforms are traps , to be avoided unless necessary (or unless you're prepared in advance to jump off it at any time)? I feel platforms are only interesting to business folks, particularly those selling access to them.

Platforms are a trap, except Windows launched a revolution. Platforms are a trap, but iOS made companies (like Facebook) billions.

Animals usually realise there is something off about a trap. They interact with it extremely cautiously, sometimes leaving it for a few nights and then coming back.

Eventually their desire for whats in the trap overcomes their caution and they put their head in.

Re: Meta Horizon OS

#284

Post by talldayo »

samspenc wrote: post #152
pavlov wrote: post #145

Shades of Apple licensing the Mac OS to clone hardware vendors in 1995 - 1997. It seems like Meta will be controlling the software experience quite closely, just like Apple did back in the day. There’s an important difference though: Apple made all their money on Mac hardware margins which the nimble clone vendors could undercut. Whereas for Meta, the Quest hardware has always been sold at breakeven or even as a loss…

Like other comments have pointed out, I think of this as similar to how Google controls the Android OS. While theoretically open, the real useful stuff on top of Android (Google services etc) require a license from Google along with their Play store, so Google makes revenue from there. Certainly more open (edited) than the Apple ecosystem, but still controlled by one (big) player, with a little bit of flexibility but…

> A bit more open than the Apple ecosystem

It is not "a bit more open" than iOS, it is a completely different approach to OS development that enables wildly different results.

> While theoretically open, the real useful stuff on top of Android

That stuff is by no means necessary; I've run Android without Google services for years and it just feels like a normal tablet OS. Again, it is not "theoretically open" but in fact practically usable without any first-party services, unlike iOS.

Re: Meta Horizon OS

#285

Post by bluescrn »

Aaronstotle wrote: post #220

I won't touch VR/AR until the technology progresses to the point where its nealry indistinguishable from regular sunglasses/eye-glasses. I have yet to use any VR device that made me want to purchase it, its all felt insanely gimmicky, so far the only time a headset seems nice is on a plane ride. I can see the potential, still seems a long way off imo.

Battery tech is likely to prevent that within our lifetimes, even if the displays and electronics can be miniaturised to that level.

Re: Meta Horizon OS

#286

Post by babypuncher »

romanhn wrote: post #43
crmd wrote: post #28

I wonder if this "opening" of the operating system is their way of putting the metaverse project out to pasture - analogous to donating it to the Apache Foundation - without admitting that the company burned $36 billion on a misadventure.

I'm guessing it's the opposite. Meta is trying to establish the same OS-level foothold/control that Microsoft, Apple and Google have.

The difference here though is I don't think AR/VR will ever become as ubiquitous for general purpose computing as laptops and smartphones.

Re: Meta Horizon OS

#287

Post by MyFirstSass »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #186
AzzyHN wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having a personal computer at home was a game-changer, though. "The Metaverse" has been around for a couple years now, and yet consumer VR (which has been around for eight years now) is still just a "gimmick", rather than a must-have. The IBM Personal Computer released in 1981. By 1989... yeah. iPhone came out in 2007. By 2015, smartphones ruled the world.

VR headsets can be fun for some games, but the hardware and software still have a lot of maturing to do, it's not like smartphones where it feels very developed and there's not much more room for obvious growth/improvement.

Yesterday i was close to buying a Pico 4 (Cheaper non meta Quest 3 equivalent), then i realised there has been zero fully triple a games since my friend blew me away with a Half Life Alyx demo 4 years ago.

I find it incredible there's still only 1 actual "serious" VR game - lots of people then recommended Skyrim VR, a game from 2011.

Is VR gaming in an absolute standstill?

Re: Meta Horizon OS

#288

Post by indymike »

babypuncher wrote: post #278
ec109685 wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re discounting the huge number of android devices that use it as a base OS. E.g. Amazon and Peloton use android without Google services for consumer devices.

These are devices built with a specific use case in mind that need an operating system that is easy to develop for. Non-Google versions of Android have struggled to make much headway in markets like smartphones. Even Amazon's own phone flopped pretty hard.

Kindle tablets on the other hand have done well.

Re: Meta Horizon OS

#289

Post by sangnoir »

babypuncher wrote: post #278
ec109685 wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re discounting the huge number of android devices that use it as a base OS. E.g. Amazon and Peloton use android without Google services for consumer devices.

These are devices built with a specific use case in mind that need an operating system that is easy to develop for. Non-Google versions of Android have struggled to make much headway in markets like smartphones. Even Amazon's own phone flopped pretty hard.

> Non-Google versions of Android have struggled to make much headway in markets like smartphones

You may have forgotten about China: Huawei smartphones are doing very well on an AOSP-based OS.

Edit: Google was concerned about a Chinese fork of Android flourishing, they wrote to congress at the time the tech-transfer ban was being condidered

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