What a lengthy article that is entirely assumption.
Sorry, until the hardware is available I am not willing to sit down and read/listen about how terrible it is.
I have been wrong about Apple’s ability to execute before.
Sorry, until the hardware is available I am not willing to sit down and read/listen about how terrible it is.
I have been wrong about Apple’s ability to execute before.
Agree 110%.
Its not on sale yet.
Only a tiny handful of Youtube influencers have been allowed to have a sneak-peak, and even they were not allowed to film it or go into too much detail. So clearly they were being shown late-stage prototype models and not the finished product.
Its therefore clear anyone sensible should wait and see.
It's carefully argued, based on published specs with clear caveats around the more speculative parts.
It's worthy of engaging with on it's own terms.
Mounting an external battery pack to the back strap of the Quest headsets has always been a common mod and it feels bizarre for Apple to ship theirs with an external battery on an umbilical cord that you have to manage as a user, as it's an extra hassle that ruins immersion and portability, especially that since I live in a warm climate, my pairs of underwear and shorts I wear in my house have no pockets as I don't need to carry my wallet, phone or keys in my house. What then? Do I hold the battery pack with my teeth or between my ass cheeks while I slice cubs in beat saber?
It feels like they prioritized some superficial design goals for the sake of looks, and didn't really think this through enough in terms of ergonomics by actually dogfooding this in users homes, just like their sleek good looking but uncomfortable and stupid wireless mouse that's the only one I know with the charging port on the bottom instead of at the front so you can't use it while charging like every other rechargeable mouse because of Apple's bizarre design choices.
I wish I were a fly on the wall in the boardrooms when such design decisions are green lit. Is it the product designers that have the final call? Is it the engineers? Is it a vote by committee or is it one person who has the decision power?
I don’t think the demo was pushing fitness games. I reckon Apple are comfortable leaving the $500 end of this opportunity for Meta and co.
I bet they included the power brick as a last resort and after thoroughly testing the weight of other mounted options. Insane to think otherwise.
Mostly sitting on a couch, or leisurely strolling in your huge, mostly empty, living room while discussing with your colleagues or family.
Instead of, say, wildly moving your arms around to slice a cube in beat saber, or shoot down a face hugger in Alyx.
The other big difference being the supposed ability to clearly see your environnement.
But then, this is all suppositions. And they have screwed up more than a few times. Wait and see, I guess.
So, 3500$ for a VR Zoom call machine?
Considering some people’s use cases, the same could be said of a MacBook Pro or an iMac.
I mean, have you seen their introduction video? [1] It’s basically watching movies on a huge screen and chatting with heads embedded in floating windows.
In the past, but even today in some parts of the world, it was a common practice to carry great weights on the head for a long time, with the condition of them being well balanced (because it was more comfortable than carrying them in an unbalanced way, in the arms or on the back).
I don't want to have a battery pack in my pocket and dangling cable while I'm in VR. Oculus could solve this on a $350 device. Surely paying 10x more could also have this groundbreaking feature.
I will stick with my Oculus Quest and aftermarket rear battery pack though.
Of course it can be solved with some ducktape, but for $3500 do you fell that's a great UX for your money? That's like buying a Mercedes S-Class and having to manually wind the windows.
Well yes, they obviously didn't think through apparently, because, and this might come as a shock to Apple designers in Cupertino, but not all of us are Californians sitting in our air conditioned homes wearing long jeans pants and Patagonia jackets indoor in high summer because our home AC is set to a frosty 20C (68F).
In my part of Europe, July and August are unbearable and there's no residential AC in apartments here, so sitting naked at home or in underwear is the only way to make it through these torrid summer months.
Also, I wasn't being snaky at all, Apple is not the only Bay Are corporation to designing consumer products around the climate and lifestyle of the people working for them, omitting the other global demographics that face different climate challenges and lifestyles of those in California.
How much are you willing to bet, that the second gen will feature a better battery support as the first gen will get criticized for this?
This is a very odd take. Southeast Asians and Louisianans work in conditions that are technically considered "uninhabitable" by OSHA. The response isn't working naked. It is not a use case that any company would consider primary.
Also, you know, you can always put on a belt without clothing.
Maybe I'm giving Apple a bit too much credit here, but it feels like they've given this some thought and decided to not go with that based on some sort of rationale, not oversight.
Was it the same rationale they used to ship the broken butterfly keyboard for 4 years straight, or for the uncomfortable bottom charging mouse that even hardcore Apple fans don't use?
It's always funny to see people making excuses for the poor decisions of their favorite corporation as if Apple can do no wrong and it isn't capable of making stupid decisions just like any other big corporation subject to the same internal turf wars and power struggles.
Both the Vive and oculus had lots of third-party support - I don't see that this is gonna be any different.
PC gamers have had to deal with umbilicals for a long time, and it isn’t that bad so long as you don’t move much. Of course, Apple would never say “it’s fine because PC gamers do it”. But it is probably fine.