The flop of Google Glass cemented in my mind that smart phones are really hard to beat. It's a small device that's easy to carry with you, has a large and detailed display, allows custom programs, and is easy to put away. I consider it a useful thing that my phone's display and my vision aren't blended. I can focus on reality, or look at a web page. I never really need to do both.

A dedicated AR device just won't be worth it to most people. It could be a revolutionary tool for certain industries and professions, but it sounds like Meta's aiming higher.

>The wristband uses differential electromyography, or EMG, to measure electrical pulses in the arm’s neurons, essentially creating the effect of a phantom limb the wearer can use to interact with the glasses. The result is that someone can essentially think to type or control a virtual interface

This would be a game changer, though.

Facebook/Meta is dead on arrival. No-one trusts them.

While this could end up true, what's also true is that Meta has the best selling full blown VR headset on the market right now. Not even talking about the entire history of Oculus, just their flagship Quest 2 device.

And not just that, but one that can be used in standalone mode (with Oculus Store and all), as well as connected to desktop in PCVR mode to play all those steam VR games like Half-Life: Alyx. Not even mentioning that you can do it pretty well wirelessly (otherwise, you gotta use a single compatible USB-C cable), with a rumored dedicated wireless dongle coming soon that should make it work smoothly for everyone and not just the ones with good routers. No facebook account requirement anymore either (got removed shortly after negative feedback from the public). No need for setting up lightboxes around the room either. And that's before we even get to their stupid cheap price point.

I fully share your skepticism about Meta as a company, but I absolutely do not share your skepticism about their future AR product play being dead on arrival, given how extremely well their current VR product is doing. Both in terms of sales and the user experience. Price point wasn't a concern for me here, and I still went with Quest 2 instead of Valve Index. The ergonomics and the frictionless experience of actually using it sold it for me, and I've been happy and using it on regular since the release.

Note: I have zero affiliation with Meta, and neither have I had any in the past. In fact, i am working for a competitor. Saying that their upcoming AR offering is dead in the water (given what is publicly known and their relevant track record) is about as out of touch as one can get.

>No facebook account requirement anymore either

When I logged into oculus.com on Monday it said they were disconuing Oculus account support Jan 2023. Sounds like they just delayed it.

You are correct about discontinuing Oculus account creation eventually, but you are incorrect about the FB requirement simply being delayed. They are working on some replacement solution that isn't personal FB accounts. I bet it will be some dedicated "Meta Gaming" account (or maybe some "Meta Reality" account, if they try to bring their upcoming AR glasses/headset into one united AR/VR ecosystem), but that's just a speculation on my part. But, they stressed it won't be tied to FB personal profiles in any way, without any requirement to have one in the first place)

They addressed that point in one of the interviews on the matter, shortly after announcing removal of FB account requirements in late October of 2021 [0]:

> “As we’ve heard feedback from the VR community more broadly, we’re working on new ways to log into Quest that won’t require a Facebook account, landing sometime next year. This is one of our highest priority areas of work internally.”

Judging by that quote, we are going to hear more details about their replacement solution at some point in 2022.

0. https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/28/22751297/meta-oculus-que...

False. Meta bought the best selling headset at the peak of VR fever. They didn't create anything

> False. Meta bought the best selling headset at the peak of VR fever.

You might want to double-check your claims before making such definitive statements.

As far as I am aware, the acquisition happened in early 2014, and Oculus Quest was released in 2019, 5 years later. Oculus Quest outsold all earlier headsets, and then Oculus Quest 2 (released a year later) outsold that. And by a giant margin.

What Oculus had at the time of the acquisition (Rift headset) was imo inferior to HTC Vive. It was the first consumer-available legit VR headset that gained some good adoption, but Vive outsold it 2-to-1.

Oculus was acquired by Facebook in March 2014.

Oculus Rift CV1 was released March 28, 2016.

Right. They only have about 30% of the planet as monthly active users.

Just like “no one uses them anymore”. Yogi Berra said it best: “No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.”

This feels like something that’s going to fail. He’s making decisions from his ego, not his brain.

Exactly 10 years ago (April 9th 2012): [0] Facebook Acquires Instagram.

Reaction:

"$1 billion for something literally no one uses."

"In 2 years, nobody will remember what instagram was."

Today (April 13th 2022), it is still alive. Somehow under Zuckerberg.

So just like how the decision for Instagram was also a decision that was something that's going to fail. Yeah, I'm going to really write off Meta again due to a couple of HN comments. /s

We'll see in another 10 years then. (April 13th 2032)

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3817840&p=2

Buying a business is not the same thing as building a business.

In this case Meta has to create a product. They are historically awful at this. FB is just iterating on the initial concept and stealing ideas from other social media platforms. They haven’t done anything novel.

> FB is just iterating on the initial concept and stealing ideas from other social media platforms. They haven’t done anything novel.

Are we looking for 'real businesses' or true scotsmen in tech giants that have built things from absolute scratch without buying companies now?

Perhaps none of these tech giants have done anything novel since they too have bought too many businesses as well. Even if it includes one by definition. Oh dear.

This is an interesting point. Other than various "products" baked into their existing platforms (Reels, Stories, etc.), has Meta successfully launched any new stand-alone product? Genuinely curious, since Instagram, Occulus, WhatsApp, etc. were all purchased not built from scratch.