Maybe the equivalence was lost: in 1990s, a computer in your pocket would bring about visions of a tower PC and maybe a backpack strap, and then you could only walk as far as the power cord.

When VR/AR makes it, it won't be strapping what I imagine you are thinking to your face. I imagine glasses or maybe people will even entertain a visor or shield

No, it’s not an issue of form factor. It’s the disconnection from reality and the constant literally-in-your-face attention grabbing that would come from wearing AR glasses, no matter how slim and lightweight they become.

I have an Apple Watch. Why? Because it lets me use my phone less. It is a purposefully less capable and less attention-seeking device which I can use to check the nature of a notification in a socially acceptable way and then go back to living life without pulling out my phone.

AR/VR is fundamentally having a phone strapped to your eyeballs. You’re saying “but it can be made lightweight and comfortable!” I’m saying you’re missing the whole point: I don’t want a phone strapped to my eyeballs, even if it weighed 0 g and was soft and velvety. It’s a step backwards.

I would love for that technology to exist, because I have AR applications in mind that I think could be industrially useful. But I would despise that becoming the normal mode of interface to the world, the same way I despise people having their heads in their phones all day long.