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Facebook acquires Oculus VR

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Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#711

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> bottom-of-the-ethical-barrel Again, this is silly sensationalist thinking -- companies aren't people capable of "good" or "evil" choices. If they were, I'd note that Facebook was one of the only companies NOT conspiring to deflate the wages of half of the people that visit this site. (Note: I don't work for FB -- I just rail against silly hyperbolic thinking.)

>I'd note that Facebook was one of the only companies NOT conspiring to deflate the wages of half of the people that visit this site If you're referring to the fact that it was reported yesterday that Facebook refused to participate in the "no poaching" agreement between Apple, Google, and other companies, it is worth noting that Facebook's CEO is involved in a totally different, and probably much more permanent and…

On the other hand, strict immigration policies themselves depress wages for every person on the planet who's not American. I can guarantee you there are a lot of people think American businesses that hire H1Bs are fucking heroes.

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#712
Once you build the immersive virtual reality where we can live, think of the opportunity for the outdoor and indoor advertising that follows.

An infinite landscape, where every advert is 100% tailored to the person viewing it.

Yeah, I hate it too.

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#713

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exactly. FB has experience with stuffing LOLCat pics in your FB feed. Not innovative tech.

>FB has experience with stuffing LOLCat pics in your FB feed Seriously? Are you really saying that it's FB's evil plan to stuff cat pictures in your pictures? And not the fualt of those with whom you connect on FB? It's rather sad how so many people just think of FB as a "website" and not realize the truly innovative efforts they must go through to keep it running as such a massive scale. Not to mention, they built t…

It's also weird how many don't see the big white elephant in the room: People hate Facebook. For about 3-4 months now, whenever I talk to a non-techie and Facebook comes up _they_ start complaining and telling me how they're trying to get away from it. They even mention other services that are connected with Facebook (Instagram, What's App)!

Is this happening only here in Germany? I was definitely surprised to be back in "the mainstream".

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#714
post #257

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I really doubt anything would change. Look beyond the brand-name of Facebook, or the current social-network connotations. I doubt someone smart enough to build a company like Oculus VR would've forgotten to plan how to run inside Facebook and continue delivering the vision of VR. After all, aren't we all here to support the vision of mainstream VR, and not just one company?

You know what it's going to happen? It's going to remain free for a while, so that everybody cools down. Then little by little, they will make it their own. And since every time the change will be minimal, everybody will simply adapt and not care, like it ALWAYS happens. And in the end you have exactly the situation that everybody hated, but now everybody accepts it. The bar always moves in the wrong direction..

Who cares? By the time that happens we're either deep into companies producing high quality VR displays, motion sensors etc. and we've got a lot of competitor products, or it didn't work out and so who cares?

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#716

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exactly. FB has experience with stuffing LOLCat pics in your FB feed. Not innovative tech.

>FB has experience with stuffing LOLCat pics in your FB feed Seriously? Are you really saying that it's FB's evil plan to stuff cat pictures in your pictures? And not the fualt of those with whom you connect on FB? It's rather sad how so many people just think of FB as a "website" and not realize the truly innovative efforts they must go through to keep it running as such a massive scale. Not to mention, they built t…

They have done some really interesting stuff. BUT! It is still just a website. Of all the over 200 million top level domains, everyone goes nuts of 2 of them: Facebook and Twitter.

They are just websites. Are they the pinnacle of human achievement?

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#717

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Wow. He is getting demolished there.

Yikes. "Fuck you, Palmer." What the fuck? Folks, this is why creators on the internet have public meltdowns and abandon their communities and/or projects. (See: Phil Fish, TotalBiscuit, and many others.) Simply despicable how these so-called "fans", who have no idea how to run a multi-million-dollar business, can turn on a dime and start slinging vitriol at the person they claimed to idolize just a day earlier. How a…

"who have no idea how to run a multi-million-dollar business, can turn on a dime and start slinging vitriol at the person they claimed to idolize just a day earlier."

As someone who does run a multi million dollar business and that supported the Oculus Rift buying ten of those in a kickstarter I would tell you something:

Nobody idolized Mr Palmer, they loved the vision, not the man. The vision is way more important than the person.

Specially when they asked for your support, and you support them, and then they change their vision, you have the right to complain, like I do.

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#718
post #296

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Instagram has been allowed to go at their own pace since they've been acquired. Parse, also, has essentially gone on it's own and created things at it's own pace. It seems they're having the same attitude with Whatsapp. I assume, especially with Carmack coming over, that FB will be extremely hands-off with the base technology behind the rift. Facebook is an engineering company; in the way it's run and with what it pu…

"Facebook is an engineering company" Keep telling yourself that. They've released some interesting tech, yes, but an engineering company? No. Neither is google.

They're software companies. Some people don't see writing software as engineering. I write software daily and I wouldn't call myself an engineer. The guys I work with who design electrical circuitry and my dad who worked on engine mountings and vehicle components - I would call them engineers.

Perhaps Google and Facebook should be software companies with an advertising edge?

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#719
post #261

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> They (Oculus) now have many many more times the resources at their disposal than before to make countless imaginative projects. An acquisition into a company like Facebook is not quite carte blanche to chase "countless imaginative projects". There are VPs and PMs, budgets and headcount, inter-departmental politics and of course final approval from Sheryl Sandberg, David Ebersman and Zuck. No matter what the press r…

Hmmm that's not quite how Facebook works -- not everything needs final approval from the C-level suite (hell, that's their selling point to new hires.) And having some structure isn't always a bad thing - as long as it's the right kind. And I think it is in this case.

Call me out of touch, but why do Facebook employ so many people? After the main structure of the site that permits you to have a wall and a feed, what else needs writing?

I don't get it.

Re: Facebook acquires Oculus VR

#720
post #494
post #338

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I'll make you a gentleman's bet that Facebook is thinking about eye tracking. Google acquiring Nest has a plan: collect data on electricity usage, presence in house and have a basis for inferring what people are doing generally all day.

Could they do eye tracking with a phone's camera easily enough?

Samsung do I think, for their scrolling feature.
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