from the word-but-wind dept
When Apple unveiled its AR/VR Vision Pro headset early last year, the product was met with nothing but hype from the tech press. You can’t spend thirty seconds online without reading about how expensive headsets ($3,500-$4,600 depending on accessories) will revolutionize every industry in existence or change everything. Seriously: everything.
Less than a year later there were persistent rumors that Apple was ending production of the headset due to “weak demand and customer dissatisfaction.” The information was the first to suggest about last October, stating that weak sales have component manufacturers reducing the production of parts since the beginning of last spring, as soon as it became clear that this is not, it seems, anywhere near the technology. revolution.
For most people, these products are too expensive, uncomfortable to wear, make them vomit, or simply don’t have enough software to justify their constant use:
“Apple has sold less than 500,000 units of the Vision Pro since its launch. While many have returned the product after experiencing headaches, vision problems, neck pain, and motion sickness, even those who stocked it are reportedly not using it as much as Apple would have liked, mainly due to the lack of interesting applications and games.
When bankers and VCs take over Silicon Valley they create a gap between marketing and reality, or adjust the decoration and original innovation. Most people don’t care if a technology product is good or not actually add anything as long as you can convince that person. And with an increasingly feckless, access-obsessed, and dysfunctional tech press, that’s often within reach.
Seriously, the Vision Pro press coverage is just stupid. A lot of unskeptical gibberish by outlets trying to kiss the ring for access. Famous quotes and sentences using the word confetti. Several key influencers claim the Vision Pro is as transformative as the original iPhone:
“I believe it is as important a breakthrough as the Macintosh of 1984 and the iPhone of 2007.”
Many people want to believe that Apple has created another revolutionary miracle. But they built a dud. And it is quite clear to those who pay attention. That price tag is ridiculous. Steve Jobs would never approve of bad ass batteries and short battery life. Outside of some early impressive gimmickry, there is little genuinely evolutionary, useful software.
But in order for the product to be successful, it is necessary improve things. VR and AR are also challenging because the scale of computing and battery life are nowhere near what they need to be to offer the transformative and inobtrusive experiences that companies promise. Most people still just don’t like plastic strapping to the face. A ton of people still can’t use VR without throwing up.
I don’t hate VR. I have three different main headsets. But the technology isn’t ripe enough to warrant the kind of hype Meta or Apple’s VR products are getting. Maybe one day, someone will develop a perfect, smooth, almost magical experience that lives up to the hype in this field, but if I had to bet, when the product comes, it won’t come from Apple or Meta (Apple and Meta will buy themthough).
Apple die hards generally get defensive when someone suggests the Vision Pro is a dud from the start. They usually talk about “it’s just a prototype” and “prototypes are supposed to be expensive,” and so on. really useful it may come down the road a few years from now.
And that may be true. Perhaps Apple turned around and used the lessons of this dud to create something really useful and affordable. But that still doesn’t mean this isn’t a wildly misrepresented dud from the start. And also don’t blame the tech press for repeatedly kicking their own ass for giving praise to undercooked products.
Filed Under: augmented reality, headset, innovation, virtual reality, vision pro, vr
Company: apple
