Apple is betting the farm on a VR headset
- Thread starter David Clapson
- Start date
I’ve given up claiming that Apple are on to a loser. I thought nobody would want to spend such large amounts of money on a fancy Walkman. I thought that their phone was laughably expensive. I thought their tablet was costly white elephant. And now I’m typing these words on an iPhone before continuing my work on an iPad.
What Apple have historically done well is come in to the market with a version of something that just… works. It’s hard to describe, but my Android stuff has always had a tendency to go a bit digi-senile, or never really work as smoothly as they theoretically should. I think that the temptation in an open market is to concentrate on “value for money” — more features for less money — which looks appealing up front but ultimately costs the user more than it saves. Apple’s closed system means that it doesn’t have to care about that, and it has consequently bought a certain trust that its products have a reliable quality to them.
Anyway, time will tell…
What Apple have historically done well is come in to the market with a version of something that just… works. It’s hard to describe, but my Android stuff has always had a tendency to go a bit digi-senile, or never really work as smoothly as they theoretically should. I think that the temptation in an open market is to concentrate on “value for money” — more features for less money — which looks appealing up front but ultimately costs the user more than it saves. Apple’s closed system means that it doesn’t have to care about that, and it has consequently bought a certain trust that its products have a reliable quality to them.
Anyway, time will tell…
8ball
Decolonise colons!
Was there a smartphone before the iPhone that had better features?
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Features… yeah. But they were all horribly clunky to use. The UI is what made it a success. Same as the iPod before it.
editor
hiraethified
Apple nicked loads of iPhone interface ideas from Palm
8ball
Decolonise colons!
Yeah, that’s what I meant. I remember the actual “phone” bit of the first IPhone apparently being a bit crap.
I was never sure what was meant to be so great about the IPod UI, but people obv liked it. I bloody hated iTunes.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Oh for sure. Loads. the first iPhone only had 8GB of storage max with no additional storage option, it didn't even have 3G, and was missing some pretty basic things like copy/paste.
TBH I didn't even get an iPhone until the 5S because I didn't think they were good enough for their price point to bother with until that point.
It’s not about having the UI idea first. It’s about implementing it in a way that makes the device feel like it is just immediately responsive. No little delays, no infuriating crashes. It’s hard to explain, but my first tablet was actually a Samsung Galaxy thing and I found it all but unusable. Then work got me an iPad and the whole form factor suddenly made sense. Did it have different functionality? Not particularly. Nor that different and interface. But it worked.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
I think Android was particularly half arsed on tablets. Still is really.
on a slight tangent, was reminded by a podcast this morning of how much cash Apple has. just googled to check the numbers: "In its last quarterly filing of December 31, 2023, Apple reported $51.355 billion cash on hand. This is a combination of “cash and cash equivalents” and “marketable securities.” For the reporting period, cash and cash equivalents were $20,535 billion, and marketable securities were $30,820 billion."
and they're expected to post massive quarter results again in May. all the talk of Apple becoming a bank, maybe offering a savings account with a better interest rate than anyone else, which would be cat amongst the pigeons time for the banks.
and they're expected to post massive quarter results again in May. all the talk of Apple becoming a bank, maybe offering a savings account with a better interest rate than anyone else, which would be cat amongst the pigeons time for the banks.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
So not so much as betting the farm, but pocket change.
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Only a couple weeks till the announcement, keep hearing some very good reviews of the system yet still can't see why I - a primarily Apple user - would want one. Now, if they manage to crack smart glasses tech I'd happily give them money to replace my specs with clever git ones!
weltweit
Well-Known Member
Won't this VR Headset be the first new format device they have launched since Jobs? Haven't everything else just been updates on existing devices? I don't follow Apple that closely but a new device needs latent users out there who will see the value .. being that Facebook's meta isn't going so great, isn't it possible Apple's Headset might also get a bit of tarnish? Whatever else Cook is, he hasn't proved himself to be a Jobs where new devices are concerned.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
The watch was all new under Tim Cook. Home/earpods too.
But game-changing stuff only comes round once every couple of decades. Apple have done it twice, maybe three times (mac, ipod+tunes, iphone) in 40+ years. And all three were refinements of existing ideas. This could be a fourth or it could be another Newton.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
I'm not a fan off their products but they are good at refining tech to give it mass appeal. If they succeed they'll move the whole VR industry forward.
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Think this is very true...I've read a fair bit about how VR makers are basically waiting on Apple to get in the game to figure out how big the market will be and what the tiers that Apple doesn't sell in look like...
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Looks like Meta isn't going to hang about and has just announced the Quest 3 ahead of the Apple launch.
www.macrumors.com
Meta Announces Quest 3 Ahead of Apple's Rumored AR/VR Headset
Facebook parent company Meta today announced the Quest 3, its next-generation mixed reality headset launching later this year. The announcement comes...
www.macrumors.com
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Apparently they brought the launch forward by three months. Amazing decision really, this time next week no one will remember it launched…Looks like Meta isn't going to hang about and has just announced the Quest 3 ahead of the Apple launch.
Meta Announces Quest 3 Ahead of Apple's Rumored AR/VR Headset
Facebook parent company Meta today announced the Quest 3, its next-generation mixed reality headset launching later this year. The announcement comes...
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Though it was probably a wise decision so when the reviews of the Apple device come in, the immediate comparison will be how much value for money it is vs the Quest 3 - $3,000 vs $300. What's that extra $2.7k really going to buy you that is so much better than the Quest etc etc.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Today's the day! Just a few hours to go....
news.sky.com
Apple WWDC: Mixed reality headset among announcements expected at tech giant's event
Apple releases new iPhones every year, and iPads and Macs also get regular updates, but the company has not unveiled an entirely fresh product in almost a decade. That's all expected to change at its WWDC showcase from its headquarters in Cupertino on Monday.
news.sky.com
elbows
Well-Known Member
The easiest prediction at this point is that several aspercts announced today will be ripe for people to take the piss out of, but this wont be a good guide as to the ultimate fate of the device.
Will any of its features interest me as a developer, thats my focus for today. It will have to do a few things incredibly well for me to even begin to imagine jumping on the first generation of this device, and I set my expectations fairly low but am keeping an open mind.
Will any of its features interest me as a developer, thats my focus for today. It will have to do a few things incredibly well for me to even begin to imagine jumping on the first generation of this device, and I set my expectations fairly low but am keeping an open mind.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
I predict:
Just like the iPhone, iPad, and watch were initially…
- Too expensive
- Have no obvious mass market use
- Missing certain absolute must have features
- Shit battery life
Just like the iPhone, iPad, and watch were initially…
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
It certainly makes every other VR headset look like absolute garbage.
If AR is going to be the future, this is it.
If AR is going to be the future, this is it.
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