In a Sign of Broader Ambitions, Facebook Opens Hardware Lab • Hacker News Board

Re: In a Sign of Broader Ambitions, Facebook Opens Hardware Lab

#51

Post by JustSomeNobody » Thu, Aug 04, 2016, 1:23 AM UTC

KaoruAoiShiho wrote: post #10

aresant wrote: post #2

FB's hardware strategy is confusing. Oculus was their first, real consumer hardware release and effort. The rollout was amateur hour between delays, customer service, etc, but that's forgivable and understandable at some level for a first major release. But then Vive showed up to the party, shipped nearly on the same time frame, and delivered a product that's in striking distance of headset quality and WINS in intera…

Hardware is commoditized but brands are not. Anyone can make handbags but only some can sell them for $5000. Oculus has potential to be as profitable as Apple if they absolutely nail the execution and the experience. But it remains to the be seen if the Rift is an iphone or a newton. Being tethered to a high end gaming pc "dooms" it to be a niche product. How soon can Oculus either ally with a console or make a conso…

> Oculus has potential to be as profitable as Apple if they absolutely nail the execution and the experience.

No. VR won't be that popular. I know that's hard for people on HN to hear, but it's true. Sure it'll make money selling to geeks and nerds, but that's all.

Re: In a Sign of Broader Ambitions, Facebook Opens Hardware Lab

#52

Post by taneq » Thu, Aug 04, 2016, 1:35 AM UTC

personjerry wrote: post #40

acangiano wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be a 417.

Or 418 :) Edit: For reference, 418 is real. It is the "I am a teapot" error code, from an April fools RFC about teapots being internet connected, which I thought was at least marginally relevant to hardware hacking.

I love the fact that I work in an industry where "from an April fools joke" and "is a real thing" are not mutually exclusive.

Re: In a Sign of Broader Ambitions, Facebook Opens Hardware Lab

#53

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Thu, Aug 04, 2016, 1:49 AM UTC

wrigby wrote: post #32

Wouldn't 'Area 201' be a more confidence inspiring name, if we're sticking to HTTP status codes?

Area 303: Just go ahead and buy HTC instead.

Re: In a Sign of Broader Ambitions, Facebook Opens Hardware Lab

#54

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Thu, Aug 04, 2016, 1:51 AM UTC

rezashirazian wrote: post #42

Why is there such emphasis on black and hispanics in a company's diversity formula whereas Indians and other Asian ethnicity are usually ignored. If a company is inherently biased and discriminates against non-white individuals, then wouldn't they do it against all minorities not just blacks and hispanics?

Gotta fight off the Sharpton shakedown.

Re: In a Sign of Broader Ambitions, Facebook Opens Hardware Lab

#55

Post by chaostheory » Thu, Aug 04, 2016, 2:06 AM UTC

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #51

KaoruAoiShiho wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hardware is commoditized but brands are not. Anyone can make handbags but only some can sell them for $5000. Oculus has potential to be as profitable as Apple if they absolutely nail the execution and the experience. But it remains to the be seen if the Rift is an iphone or a newton. Being tethered to a high end gaming pc "dooms" it to be a niche product. How soon can Oculus either ally with a console or make a conso…

> Oculus has potential to be as profitable as Apple if they absolutely nail the execution and the experience. No. VR won't be that popular. I know that's hard for people on HN to hear, but it's true. Sure it'll make money selling to geeks and nerds, but that's all.

Why?

Re: In a Sign of Broader Ambitions, Facebook Opens Hardware Lab

#56

Post by JustSomeNobody » Thu, Aug 04, 2016, 2:31 AM UTC

chaostheory wrote: post #55

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Oculus has potential to be as profitable as Apple if they absolutely nail the execution and the experience. No. VR won't be that popular. I know that's hard for people on HN to hear, but it's true. Sure it'll make money selling to geeks and nerds, but that's all.

Why?

Similar reason to why 3D TV failed; nobody likes stuff on their face.

Re: In a Sign of Broader Ambitions, Facebook Opens Hardware Lab

#57

Post by L_Rahman » Thu, Aug 04, 2016, 2:57 AM UTC

eldavido wrote: post #47

aresant wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook is not trying to build a premium VR business w/margins akin to Apple, that would be completely inverse to their business strategy. Facebook is much more akin to Google than to Apple because Facebook & Google's primary business is the same - advertising. And if you're an advertising business your primary objective is driving more eyeballs / more users. Google's first VR solution demonstrates this - they GIVE…

So much this. I saw facebook's earnings last quarter and my jaw dropped. 40% increase in revenue since same quarter last year. Then I took a look at their quarterly report, and the entire thing -- and I mean, like 99% of it -- is about ads. MAU, DAU, publisher and inventory growth, top-level organizational goals about getting more marketers on the platform, etc. The only other two revenue sources they have are hardwa…

And even if they try to build a premium hardware division with Oculus, it's unlikely to work. Culture is incredibly sticky and companies rarely succeed in building products that are orthogonal to their culture.

Re: In a Sign of Broader Ambitions, Facebook Opens Hardware Lab

#58

Post by noname123 » Thu, Aug 04, 2016, 3:25 AM UTC

rezashirazian wrote: post #42

Why is there such emphasis on black and hispanics in a company's diversity formula whereas Indians and other Asian ethnicity are usually ignored. If a company is inherently biased and discriminates against non-white individuals, then wouldn't they do it against all minorities not just blacks and hispanics?

Because diversity in America is an emotionally-based internal and external marketing, not a statistically rigorous initiative to truly measure and hold companies and Universities accountable.

Better similar questions are, what is the ratio of East Asian and South Asian middle-management and senior management in Silicon Valley over their individual contributor head count (vs. the same ratio for Caucasian counterpart)?

What is the ratio of black students and employee's in a company, when broken down specifically by class (e.g., middle and upper-middle class black people living in suburbs of DC vs. first generation black college students from inner city Baltimore) and by immigration (e.g., Nigerian's who have the same immigrant/culture work-ethic's as East Asian's are just as over-represented in elite American schools)?

Re: In a Sign of Broader Ambitions, Facebook Opens Hardware Lab

#59

Post by ethbro » Thu, Aug 04, 2016, 3:29 AM UTC

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #56

chaostheory wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Similar reason to why 3D TV failed; nobody likes stuff on their face.

Do you have any data to back up those assertions? Because they seem pretty "Here is how I feel so therefore it must be that way."

Re: In a Sign of Broader Ambitions, Facebook Opens Hardware Lab

#60

Post by ethbro » Thu, Aug 04, 2016, 3:31 AM UTC

kirrent wrote: post #31

ProAm wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the first FB consumer device where they were completely responsible for the hardware To be fair they bought Oculus after the hardware had been created and funded by crowd sourcing.

The first and second development kits, sure, but the consumer version was developed after the acquisition.

You mean the lessons they stole from Valve? (Couldn't resist)