Quest2 is $299, so actually on the scale of a very cheap phone.
Maybe some things are more tedious but some things are better. Ever more ubiquitous computing and contextual/spatial computing of AR is really interesting.
You don't get it but others find AR/VR compelling and Microsoft and FB smell money. It's worth talking about why these large companies are spending the effort.
One thing I rarely see mentioned or discussed is the "longevity" of VR interest amongst users. As a (former? I'm not sure yet) VR enthusiast and adopter on the high end of things I noticed that the novelty wore off really quickly, after ~1 year of owning my Index my usage went from somewhat regularly to barely anymore and for most titles with VR support I prefer playing them the regular way and the VR-first titles can't get me to set it up, or were "onetime" experiences (like HL Alyx, which is one of maybe ~3 VR games that really felt enriched and improved by the VR experience, in hindsight).
From friends and colleagues of mine I hear similar things, VR headsets collecting dust already.
If you view VR as a spectrum between ViewMaster 3-D and a holodeck, we're very much still on the ViewMaster 3-D end of things.
You're not in a sensory goo tank or anything but for starters you can't even lift up a virtual boy.
"There are no lapsed mobile users, essentially... but there are, right now, a whole lot of people that are lapsed VR users...."
So we have a weird situation atm where huge numbers of people have generically written off VR because it didn't cut it for high end gaming with them, without ever even considering the alternatives. In my mind, these are fitness and professional use.
The fact is that I can go into VR to work today and its intolerable after a short period, but only because of factors I think will be solved within the space of a few years - the resolution is too low, the battery doesn't last long enough, it's too heavy and gets uncomfortable. These will all get solved. Once that happens, VR will be unambigously a better place to work for quite a wide cross section of activities. This is the "skating to where the puck will be" that tech companies need to focus on.
$299 is not a "very cheap" phone.
EDIT: while you're implying they have $1500 to put down on a phone what is much more likely is that
a)They're gifted said phone
b)They're buying a used one off of ebay, facebook marketplace or similar for much much less money
c)They're using a "lifeline" phone that they've bought at a discount from their "lifeline" provider.
In none of these cases -particularly if they're getting a government subsidy ("lifeline") is it likely that they're paying >$250/mo
A VR headset is something normal people are just not used to. I guess that will be that way for quite a bit time.
* Toms: Under $400
* Verge Under $500
* TechRadar: Under $500 with the lowest category Under $200
* CNET: Under $500
* AndroidAuthority: Under $500
* Wired: Under $500
Like you can personally decide that a budget phone should be under $200 or something but real life people looking to buy "cheap" phones are looking to pay ~<$500 for it.
It always surprises me how much of those I see in the metro. I don't see many flagships at all here, many people on the street also use wired headphones.
In the Netherlands it's a totally different picture. Lots of iPhones, S-class Samsung, airpods...
It really depends on the country and their average wages.
>real life people looking to buy "cheap" phones are looking to pay ~<$500 for it.
A good portion of the world must not be "real life people" to you. I will hazard a guess and say that you must have lived a life without much financial difficulty.
The Quest2 is $299, but how much is a GPU good enough to deliver a better than a regular desktop/laptop/smartphone user experience these days?
the quest delivers an experience you can't really get with those devices, and it does it with just that hardware. The GPU inside it does what it needs to do (mostly).
Also, i bet an apple vr headset with apple silicon GPU would kick ass
Oh it will. But it will cost almost 10x the price of a Quest 2. Apple doesn't get into something until they can do it really well and they make the most of the early adopter premium, only bringing prices down after a few generations.
Many of us don't get it, because we have seen the sales pitch come back every couple of years.