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John Carmack’s presentation at Facebook Connect [video]

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Re: John Carmack’s presentation at Facebook Connect [video]

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being able to buy a VR headset for 400$ is "real wealth".

I have to disagree. This argument comes up in every discussion about wealth inequality. 'The non-wealthy can't complain, because everything is so cheap now.' Real wealth is, you know... actual wealth. It's being able to start a high 6-figure to 8-figure business (or even smaller if you are satisfied) and not being laughed at as a failure. It's being able to buy rather than rent everything you want to buy. It's having…

People can now buy a haedset for 400$, rather than 100000$. That creates wealth.

That you personally care more about starting a business than about using a VR headset is not really relevant.

Re: John Carmack’s presentation at Facebook Connect [video]

#82
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say that is the same as a dead end. Right now this is a very expensive, multi-billion dollar toy with toy demonstrator apps and proof of concept games. It needs to be a game changer and the future of something or the research funding and developer ecosystem are going to dry up. And given the amount that Facebook must be losing on the Quest 2 and the all-in nature of this launch, if this doesn't take off now, the…

>Right now this is a very expensive, multi-billion dollar toy with toy demonstrator apps and proof of concept games. We are far past tech demos and concept games.

But it's clearly not a mass market thing either— mass market is mobile games raking in millions, Switches selling out during quarantine, the upcoming PS5 launch, and Epic having splashy platform wars with Apple and Valve. Those are billion dollar gaming events which all have nothing to do with VR.

There's no non-nerd out there who thinks "maybe I'll try VR", and goes into a store to buy... whatever it is, goes home to have a great time with it, and immediately tells their friends. No, it's Linus Tech Tips upgrading his water-cooled living room PC with a special USB3 card just to get enough bandwidth to all the peripherals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFuLvGf0g0c

Re: John Carmack’s presentation at Facebook Connect [video]

#83
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Carmack talks about this a bit, the Quest 1 had enough pixel density that a big screen in VR (such as the Netflix app) could give you about 720 of useful resolution. With the new screens, it's more like 1080p. But if you're doing multiple smaller screens rather than a big movie theater, they'll be less than that. They're launching an official project for this, called Infinite Office. You see the world in black and wh…

thanks. the infinite office demos are pretty funny. all the users doing "office productivity work" are just browsing facebook

Welcome to Facebook's vision of the future of work!

Re: John Carmack’s presentation at Facebook Connect [video]

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being able to buy a VR headset for 400$ is "real wealth".

I have to disagree. This argument comes up in every discussion about wealth inequality. 'The non-wealthy can't complain, because everything is so cheap now.' Real wealth is, you know... actual wealth. It's being able to start a high 6-figure to 8-figure business (or even smaller if you are satisfied) and not being laughed at as a failure. It's being able to buy rather than rent everything you want to buy. It's having…

> It's being able to start a high 6-figure to 8-figure business (or even smaller if you are satisfied) and not being laughed at as a failure.

I suspect this is a bit of a SV bubble viewpoint. I don't think that in the general population, if you tell people you are pulling 8-figures in your business, you would be considered a failure.

Re: John Carmack’s presentation at Facebook Connect [video]

#85
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Right now this is a very expensive, multi-billion dollar toy with toy demonstrator apps and proof of concept games. We are far past tech demos and concept games.

But it's clearly not a mass market thing either— mass market is mobile games raking in millions, Switches selling out during quarantine, the upcoming PS5 launch, and Epic having splashy platform wars with Apple and Valve. Those are billion dollar gaming events which all have nothing to do with VR. There's no non-nerd out there who thinks "maybe I'll try VR", and goes into a store to buy... whatever it is, goes home t…

I completely disagree. Quest and a game like Beat Saber are about as broad as you can get. Right out of the box you're swinging your arms around to popular EDM music. The price point is low enough to make it a solid holiday buy for a good amount of people as well. VR is also one of those things that you can show anyone and really wow them. It's not like handing a controller to a non-gamer and having them discouraged because they don't know how to use 2 joysticks.

Re: John Carmack’s presentation at Facebook Connect [video]

#86
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Right now this is a very expensive, multi-billion dollar toy with toy demonstrator apps and proof of concept games. We are far past tech demos and concept games.

But it's clearly not a mass market thing either— mass market is mobile games raking in millions, Switches selling out during quarantine, the upcoming PS5 launch, and Epic having splashy platform wars with Apple and Valve. Those are billion dollar gaming events which all have nothing to do with VR. There's no non-nerd out there who thinks "maybe I'll try VR", and goes into a store to buy... whatever it is, goes home t…

Quest also sold out during quarantine.

Re: John Carmack’s presentation at Facebook Connect [video]

#87
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Right now this is a very expensive, multi-billion dollar toy with toy demonstrator apps and proof of concept games. We are far past tech demos and concept games.

But it's clearly not a mass market thing either— mass market is mobile games raking in millions, Switches selling out during quarantine, the upcoming PS5 launch, and Epic having splashy platform wars with Apple and Valve. Those are billion dollar gaming events which all have nothing to do with VR. There's no non-nerd out there who thinks "maybe I'll try VR", and goes into a store to buy... whatever it is, goes home t…

> "..."maybe I'll try VR", and goes into a store to buy... whatever it is, goes home to have a great time with it, and immediately tells their friends."

This is definitely a thing that happens with the Oculus Quest already. The hardware is easy to use and the software library is pretty much in place now. A major marketing campaign could make it really take off.

I don't have any insight into FB VR's decision to require the login on Oculus devices now, but my guess is that they consider the device to be ready for a mass market, and believe that the gains from the social graph will be worth the short-term pain of leaving early-adopter money on the table from here on.

Re: John Carmack’s presentation at Facebook Connect [video]

#88
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Right now this is a very expensive, multi-billion dollar toy with toy demonstrator apps and proof of concept games. We are far past tech demos and concept games.

For example?

Beat Saber is the obvious answer with the most general appeal.

Re: John Carmack’s presentation at Facebook Connect [video]

#89
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Right now this is a very expensive, multi-billion dollar toy with toy demonstrator apps and proof of concept games. We are far past tech demos and concept games.

For example?

Echo Arena, onward, pavlov, beat saber, arizona sunshine, stormland, the climb, journey of the gods to name a few.

oh and myst is coming, MYST.

Re: John Carmack’s presentation at Facebook Connect [video]

#90
post #14
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, he's improved over the years. You should watch his very first presentations, during the Quake era. I think he's taken some speaking lessons to diminish his "uhms". But yeah, he's fearless of the public, which removes his mental blocks. I used to stutter in front of the public, but the one thing that solved it for me was a course, where we had to improvise in front of a camera. At the end, the coach replayed every…

I think for a lot of people, their fear of public speaking comes from not having gone through that first time you sound legitimately dumb. For example, saying something obviously flat-out wrong and tripping over your words doing so. Up until that point, you are terrified of it happening. Once it does and you get past it, everything else seems much easier. Watching recordings of yourself sounds like a mild form of exp…

This is a good point - I worked as a sports ref in HS, and let me tell you, you'll be made aware when you screw something up even the smallest bit.

But you know what? You learn to (1) tune it out quick, (2) maintain your confidence, and (3) move on - a skill that's been invaluable for me going forward.

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