> I think I know where the disconnect is. ... I don't even think it's 1991 since we haven't settled on a protocol that would allow the equivalent of websites which would be something like the worlds you see in VRChat but not limited to a single app. It's going to happen soon though, it seems like USD might be the HTML of the metaverse[0] and once that gets hammered out things will really take off.
With all due respect I think this is a highly optimistic view that isn't borne out by any of the current trends. Current headsets have interoperability but we're already seeing a number of manufacturers walling off their hardware from the larger market, by name, Apple and Facebook, one more aggressively than the other. The Internet exploded both because it was built upon a set of open shared standards, and because it was, as said previously, a natural progression of communication technology: print, but faster. VR is not faster than... I mean really, anything. It's slower for basically all forms of communication, not because of the hardware or whatever but because of what it is, because of the physical footprint of the devices. The most convenient one you can point to is the Vision Pro, and it's also (I believe) the most expensive by a solid margin, and it's still almost 2 pounds of stuff strapped to your head.
> Shopping is not going to be the "killer app" of the metaverse no matter how much big corps want it. It'll come after the fact like it did with the web.
I mean, I think that's utlimately where we agree. I think because of that, it's overall adoption will remain niche. I think the web's ability to engage people in commerce is one of the big reasons that it has exploded the way it has.
> You're still thinking of flat content here. VR is not for flat content. ... any experience you want and the ability to share it with others available from within your own home.
Right, absolutely agree. But again, the vast, vast, vast majority of content is flat content. Text, pictures, video, and even the vast majority of videogames are 100% flat. And, it isn't just that the majority is flat; the production expense to create content that is not flat introduces exponentially greater cost to the entity creating it. You say "once we have all these experiences it'll be better" and hey, I want that, I'm in this and I love VR. But VR content is harder to make, harder to test, the hardware is more involved, there are safety concerns to go over that are just not a thing in other media, on and on. Anyone can write press releases and with newer tech, just about anyone can make videos, and even podcasts are still pretty dead simple. But VR content is in a completely different league, you're in for four or even five figures just to begin.
> That was a similar proposition to the early internet, why would you endure the expense and difficulty of buying a computer, paying fees, and spending hours hunched over a monochrome terminal poking away at a keyboard just so you could talk to someone on the other end when you could just go talk to your neighbours? That's the motivation.
Because the people on the terminal were the fellow weirdos like you who had a similar terminal, being on the early internet you already probably had a LOT in common with all those people right off the bat, solely on the basis that you were both the kind of people who had access to the internet at all.
> Coming back to the flat content. ... No one cares that it isn't 4k since you aren't there just to watch the movie in silence, do that in your living room if that's what you want.
I mean, it's less a concern for the video and far more for text. And you can say all day "well it isn't for text" and yeah, I get that, but you're missing that text is still the predominant form of communication in technology. If you can't do text effectively, huge aspects of your social media product have problems.
> The best parts of social VR or "the metaverse" aren't browsing web pages, looking at pictures or watching movies. They're sitting around a room talking to people, wandering through a crowded world like you're at a party and taking in all the conversations, dancing, trying out different worlds and games with friends for the first time, going to a live show or any of the other varied experiences on offer.
>
> It's about being with people not about consuming content.
I mean, then how do you explain a company like Facebook betting so hard on it? Facebook is all about getting you to consume content. That's all they do and I have a strong feeling that's exactly what their metaverse will be.