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First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

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Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ordinary people don't want to put a VR headset on - they just don't. Why not? Because it's heavy, sweaty, smelly, expensive, uncomfortable for the eyes, or some other reason? I doubt people have real ideological aversion towards headsets. If people don't want them it's probably because of one of the practical reasons above. And honestly most of those are likely to be alleviated in the near future.

No, its because most people hate the idea of being around other people who so blatantly disconnect from everybody and look like idiots, or being actually those people. Its the exact opposite of 'cool' - its desperate, rude, pathetic. Those are not my words, I wouldn't mind wearing it in private (for open spaces with other people including my family definitely above is valid), its from my wife who is a doctor. And she…

> its desperate, rude, pathetic

I don't understand how can people feel so strongly about this.

If someone wants to wear a headset, what's it to you? Especially if it's not in your presence.

> Let's not even start the discussion on negative physical and mental health effects

Like the physical and mental health effects people complain about EVERY TIME a new form of media consumption technology is introduced. It's a complaint as old as the pyramids, literally.

Of course we should be careful and mindful about the well being of children. But let's not loose our heads, this is not fentanyl.

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#462
post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first iphone let you have a real web browser anywhere you had cell coverage. This lets you have a web browser floating at home. Its not the same (and I love VR)

I didn’t get one until the 3G came out, but I have a very clear memory of the “wow!” feeling: right after buying the phone, I went down the street to a coffee shop and started browsing the web while waiting in line. I was instantly cured of my prior skepticism that it could actually be a major improvement over my flip phone + iPod.

Yep I actually remember standing on the sidewalk on my lunch break outside of a cafe, and I pulled up the Reddit website.

It sounds so incredibly unrelatable in 2023, but you have to put yourself in that time. Web browsing was just something you did at work, or at home. Period. Visiting that website while on the sidewalk was really one of the major game-changers in my life.

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's silly, it can do all that and also have a killer app. I can already do all that traditional stuff on a macbook or ipad, and "have a screen anywhere", and those things are more portable because I can just sit it on the table instead of having to untangle A CABLE from my clothing and then find somewhere to place a headset that doesnt sit flat like an ipad or macbook. Then there's the fact that ipads and macb…

What’s the killer app for Apple Watch?

Reading and responding to a text without using your phone.

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#464
post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The patent brag isn’t a first for Apple though. Steve Jobs himself during the first iPhone presentation bragged “oh boy we’ve patented it” about multitouch technology.

IIRC that was only half-true since multitouch existed before the iPhone. Don't know the details though.

They bought the company that invented it.

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#465

This thing reminds me of the Segway. 1. Seems quite cool in the demo but dorky in the real world. 2. Solves a problem no one really has. 3. Costs 10x more than most people are willing to spend. 4. Actual use case: Mall cops and tourists. 5. Some rich fanboy will buy out the entire inventory, use it outdoors, and fall off a cliff.

If augmented reality can provide me with step-by-step guidance on diagnosing and fixing a car leak, replacing a diverter valve on a faucet, installing roof-customized solar panels, and various other DIY tasks, while also showing me the necessary tools, then I would be inclined to purchase this product. I'm growing weary of watching YouTube videos for car repairs and struggling to align the locations of bolts or parts…

You bring up some good points. Mainly that teaching you to work on your car, your house, or cook is highly specific to your particular environment. Maybe that's an example of the missing killer app for XR.

OTOH these also sound like things a remote teacher could help you with if they could talk to you in an earpiece provided they could immerse themselves in your environment. So the remote teacher would be wearing the AR headset. But now maybe you'd need a robot avatar in your kitchen.

Just brainstorming here but these might be business opportunities.

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#466
It's interesting that HN seems so divided on Vision Pro. Lots of skepticism, and also lots of acknowledgement that Apple has a habit of shutting down its doubters.

Personally, I'm still skeptical. They announced 2 hours of battery life, which basically means this needs to always be plugged in. And while this is much more useful and technologically superior to everything that came before, it suffers in other ways. It looks goofier and more dystopian than Google Glass (though maybe Apple's brand status can carry it through this), and is heavier and has a weaker exclusive value prop than Meta's Quest headsets.

For all the hate it gets, Meta at least has a core use case for its Quest headsets - VR gaming. If you want to play VR games, get a Quest. If you want to ??? get a Vision Pro. Still not sure what belongs there. Watch a movie in VR instead of on your TV? See your monitors in VR instead of on your desk? Record precious memories that you want to relive over and over with a huge chunk of tech strapped over your face instead of living and enjoying the moment with those around you?

I guess it's the HomePod strategy on steroids - release an ultra-premium device, then release the mass market version later, once you figure out what people actually want from it.

Either way, there's only so much that speculation can cover. Right now, no one can speak to very basic factors like comfort over extended periods of time, which can make or break this product.

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct, it is pointless. It could have had a killer app: games. Most VR headsets suck in one way or another, Apple could make one that's actually nice to use. Sadly, for some bizarre reason Apple still don't understand games. They even have pretty good GPUs now and they're still not making an Apple TV Pro to compete with the PS5. Even just the Vision could've been announced along with a couple exclusives, but instea…

What's strange to me is that they roll out Hideo Kojima to talk about some gaming thing for the Mac OS, yet when it came to the headset all they can give is some creepy demos of a fathers wearing this thing while their kinds play at home. Could they really not have given some units to some game devs and tell them to come up with some cool ideas? This thing just feels incredibly rushed. It's like Apple felt left out o…

Except, video game developers have had like ten years to figure out a VR "killer app" game. Even Valve failed. VR just isn't a significant enough increase in experience for the vast vast VAST majority of games to justify the annoyance of having a mask on, let alone the price. If you are super into simulators, then you have some incredible options, but otherwise it's just a bunch of beat saber clones and mediocre shooters.

VR is a peripheral, not a console. Very few people would choose a VR Magic game over Magic the gathering arena.

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's strange to me is that they roll out Hideo Kojima to talk about some gaming thing for the Mac OS, yet when it came to the headset all they can give is some creepy demos of a fathers wearing this thing while their kinds play at home. Could they really not have given some units to some game devs and tell them to come up with some cool ideas? This thing just feels incredibly rushed. It's like Apple felt left out o…

Exactly! Even just a small Kojima game exclusive to the Vision Pro would've been interesting. Kojima is sufficiently famous and well liked to bootstrap a gaming ecosystem, though. They could've gone further and announced an Apple TV Pro, a decent controller, Vision non-Pro (cheaper headset that requires an M1 Mac or Apple TV Pro) and one full Kojima VR game as an exclusive. That could've been enough to start competin…

How many headsets did Valve sell with Half Life Alyx?

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#469
The fact that Tim Cook didn’t wear the display once during the demo is all I needed to create my opinion on the device. They also didn’t show any developers using the device - why? Probably because this is a glorified iPad and Apple continues to artificially lock down their Apple Silicon on some devices to not cannibalize the lower-tier MacBook offerings.

Re: First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good

#470
post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Anyone who flies a lot will be able to use it as advertised now for entertainment and work. It will have the added advantage of being private, so nobody can shoulder surf what you're doing. But ergonomically, writing emails, presentations and filtering spreadsheets - I'd need to use it to see how fun that might be. I guess you can see through the screen, so you know if somebody needs your attention ?

It looks like you either dial up/down the immersion, so you could always see people at the fringes, or the passthrough would mean you could see someone like a steward appearing to get your attention.

Actually it looks like someone approaching will automatically fade in, even if your immersion had been dialed up.
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