Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#741

Post by dschuetz » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 4:59 AM UTC

Was there any doubt that this would happen? I mean, it's always the same game: naïve developers with an outstanding product, huge company willing to buy-out technology while lying through their teeth making promises. It's Edison scams Nikola Tesla all over again. I'm baffled that technology pioneers and makers make the same naïve mistakes again and again for over 2 centuries now.

I'm sorry for the following statement. Deal with it. You want shiny new products and technology. You develop new magical technology. You write insightful and groundbreaking scientific papers. Why are you dependent on investors, publishers and giant tech-firms? They exist because of you, because you need them. And they know that. So, please, rid yourself of the illusion that your product/paper can only survive if you give it away to someone with power and influence. You give away power, for money, that's why Facebook, Apple, Google got so powerful in the first place. It's your fault. Deal with it, you can do better than that.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#742

Post by IncRnd » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 5:00 AM UTC

colechristensen wrote: post #367

IncRnd wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's trivial to get around. X can dump liabilities into the company, and Y would never reacquire it.

And that is trivial to get around, instead of a $1 clawback for the company, a $1 clawback for all acquired IP, trademarks, etc including any related developed under the same or derivative marks and companies.

That's closer to what I've done, but in practice that also lowers the value of the company. There is a sweet spot you have to hit of giving up control. Just because you ask for something doesn't mean you will get it. In fact, you normally don't have the advantage in these types of sales, so you don't get to specify these things.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#743

Post by baby » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 5:01 AM UTC

Animats wrote: post #707

I was expecting Facebook to sell off their VR operations, since they're not scaling up much. Zuckerberg says he's not interested in any business with less than a billion users. Facebook Spaces was a bust. Facebook Horizon didn't even launch. John Carmack went off to work on AI. If anything, Facebook's VR effort is just there in case someone else comes up with a VR or AR threat to Facebook.

Who says horizon won’t get released? Also Carmack is one person. You’re judging a product due to one person leaving?

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#744

Post by raxxorrax » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 5:01 AM UTC

KuiN wrote: post #503

ccktlmazeltov wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is it such a big deal to create a fb account though? Can't you just use a fake name if you don't care about having a fb account?

Given how pervasive Facebook tracking is, I'd bet on your pseudonymous account being linked to your shadow profile very quickly. There is no anonymity when Facebook is involved. I'd also strongly object to moving the needle even the tiniest amount on Facebook's metrics. They wouldn't force users to do this unless it benefitted them; that's plenty enough reason for a lot of people.

Especially considering that VR devices film your whole room constantly, I think I will never connect my Rift again.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#745

Post by 29athrowaway » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 5:02 AM UTC

atarian wrote: post #13

Palmer Luckey, the original creator had this to say over on /r/oculus: I am already getting heat from users and media outlets who say this policy change proves I was lying when I consistently said this wouldn't happen, or at least that it was a guarantee I wasn't in a position to make. I want to make clear that those promises were approved by Facebook in that moment and on an ongoing basis, and I really believed it w…

Perhaps it also went like this:

    [Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?
    Zuck: I don't know why.
    Zuck: They "trust me"
    Zuck: Dumb fucks

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#746

Post by baby » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 5:02 AM UTC

stjohnswarts wrote: post #318

mortenjorck wrote: post #4

So if I don't have a Facebook account and I buy an Oculus Quest after October, does this mean I may have to submit a copy of my driver's license just to set up a piece of consumer electronics?

If they suspect you aren't who you are then yeah. Otherwise generally a phone number and email are enough. That's the price for Facebook, but it's good to be informed about what you're sacrificing.

I’m guessing the upside is that if you ever lose your password there’s an actual account recovery flow based on identity verification.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#747

Post by baby » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 5:07 AM UTC

zelphirkalt wrote: post #17

How to immediately lose a segment of your customers? Hmmm ah yes, require FB for login! Way to go!

Serious question: do you really think that someone who is enthusiastic about VR would refuse to get the best headset out there because they would have to create an account on some service online? I can’t fathom how that would stop anyone who is truly interested about playing VR. It’s like telling someone they will need a PS account to play the playstation or a Xbox account to play the xbox, they’d probably be fine with that.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#748

Post by jerianasmith01 » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 5:07 AM UTC

Nice information

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#749

Post by baby » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 5:09 AM UTC

silentsea90 wrote: post #306

I don't get what people over here expected when Facebook acquired Oculus, and also don't get why it is so hard to create a throwaway facebook account. No condescension. Just not sure what I am missing in the extreme positions here

Same here. It feels like an overreaction.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#750

Post by moron4hire » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 5:11 AM UTC

satyrnein wrote: post #539

jacquesm wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough, even so, as founder non-CEO you have even less standing to make such claims, and at that level you don't get to claim innocence. Incidentally, he then started a defense contractor, also not something where 'naive' is a pre on your resume. I don't know what the share division was at the time, but I am going to assume here that Iribe served at the pleasure of Luckey. In the end it is nitpicking; the effect…

Actually, it appears Luckey was never CEO; I guess I remembered that wrong. I'm sure you're right that Luckey was likely the biggest shareholder by a fair bit. In any case, Luckey was a 20-year old kid who got some lenses to point in the right direction to give a decent FOV. He had a good Kickstarter, hired a CEO, and two years later he sold to Facebook for billions. Should he have made those promises? Probably not.…

Yeah, it's not like, come Facebook acquisition, Palmer Luckey had a stellar record on keeping promises. Honestly, the Quest is the first time I could say the Oculus brand did not "fail to meet expectations". Prior to... uh, last year... they had always been a day late, a buck short.