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joeshmoe9898 t1_jbxg8u3 wrote

Reply to comment by N1NJAREB0RN in Tim Cook bets on Apple’s mixed-reality headset to secure his legacy by DarthBuzzard

I’m also skeptical but it’s very different for a social media company to try to develop success as a hardware design company. If you made a short list of companies that would successfully develop a headset that helps it go mainstream, Apple would have to be near the top of that list.

Again, I’m skeptical. This seems like a less obvious win than smartphones were and there’s already much more competition in the VR space than there was in smart phones in 2008. If they do something extraordinary, I suspect it will be from an interface innovation.

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Eversnuffley t1_jbxj7nm wrote

Smartphone were far from obvious at the time. Everyone else was trying to shrink their phones. Now we all have roofing shingles in our pockets.

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joeshmoe9898 t1_jbxkyz3 wrote

I would half disagree. Smartphones weren’t popular because the interface and capabilities were clunky and awkward. Steve summed it up in that first keynote, iPod + Phone + Internet communicator. They knew they had created a new class of product, I don’t think anyone could have known HOW BIG the market would be. To me, what set it apart was the interface and that the tech had evolved enough to create a smooth experience in a compact form factor (the first iPhone was pretty small!)

I do agree though that the competition now is a totally different situation. Apple was competing with Palm, Sony, & Blackberry. Not every major tech brand.

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Eversnuffley t1_jbxl9fl wrote

Clunky and awkward - exactly like today's vr devices. If Apple nails it, it could be a similar revolution.

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Eswyft t1_jbz1qao wrote

Whats clunky about them? I've used and owned a few.

They're fine. The interface is largely good now.

The reality it's a very different gaming experience and many people don't like it

The barrier for entry on any apple product is going to be high.

There is no UI problem. There is no hardware problem. There s a game problem. Beyond golf, beat saber, and flight sims, the games are not good on it

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pseudocultist t1_jbyiwgv wrote

At the time Motorola had a fully touch screen phone, the Communicator, but it wasn't nearly as sophisticated as the iPhone. Still many of us held it up as an example of "what we wanted." It was pretty big, the size of today's iPhones but thicker.

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hibi_chan t1_jbyii90 wrote

Facebook bought Oculus, wtf nonsense are you talking about? Oculus has years and years of this hardware designed and tested, as well as the most comprehensive set of patents in this arena.

Please do just a tiny google search before you say something.

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schmaydog82 t1_jc357f1 wrote

I think you missed his whole point, he didn’t say develop hardware, he said develop success as a hardware company. Apple is known for selling hardware and knows everything that comes with it, Facebook does not.

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hibi_chan t1_jc3apoy wrote

Do you not understand what acquisition means, or what Oculus does? Oculus makes hardware, specifically, headsets. They make the best ones in the world by a long shot. The industry was nowhere near the size expected, because vr is simply not popular. Apple brings nothing new to the table, doesn’t have 10 years of vr hardware expertise, the patents, nothing. Their headset has nothing groundbreaking get it? Why do you think copycatting a basically unpopular piece of hardware (at least compared to most mainstream electronics) would be any different here?

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schmaydog82 t1_jc3avpe wrote

There have been plenty of times a parent company has ruined a company they acquired?

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hibi_chan t1_jc3dlxm wrote

That’s a case by case basis, and a total straw man in this debate. Nothing indicates Facebook has done anything to ruin Oculus in any way, instead they have provided massive amounts of funding for R&D. It’s also not the point I was making not related to the original post. A non hardware company can acquire a hardware company, thus establishing itself in the hardware business without having to build up anything. A hardware company can also make a product that flops, there is no guarantee of success by simply being a hardware company. In this case it is apparent Apple brings nothing to the table. Apples own engineers didn’t even want to launch this product, it was demanded they do. You along with others are simply fanboys of Apple who think that Apple can simply wade into a space without any technological achievements and attain success, and that FB isn’t a hardware company so they don’t know what’s they are doing. And I replied they don’t have to - they paid billions to acquire a company that did and does, making your arguments dumb, insubstantial, and not rooted in fact.

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schmaydog82 t1_jc3dwk0 wrote

What in the fuck are you talking about dude? I don’t give a shit about this headset, I was literally just saying what I think he meant by it. Whether it’s the case or not Apple obviously has more experience in the hardware industry and that’s all I was stating. In my opinion this headset will be a flop as far as the consumer market goes.

People always jumping to fanboy lmao, that’s the real straw man

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hibi_chan t1_jc3fb6i wrote

So like, Apple has more experience making all hardware of every type than any other company, is that it? By being Apple, in your mind they immediately have more experience making say electronic keyboards than an electronic keyboard maker? Because that is basically what you are saying. Oculus has 11 years experience making headsets, Apple has lets see…0 years experience making headsets.

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schmaydog82 t1_jc3fo9x wrote

It sounds like you’re just trying to argue at this point. It’s not even about the hardware making itself, it’s about having 40 years of experience with making and marketing hardware and knowing what people want.

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Big-Industry4237 t1_jbz3hz5 wrote

Facebook had purchased an already successful hardware company, oculus. So your initial point is factually incorrect.

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joeshmoe9898 t1_jbz47ie wrote

Oculus’ revenue was $25m when they were bought, far from a hardware giant. More importantly though, my point was Apple has significantly more experience than Meta in hardware design. How is that a controversial statement?

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