Everyone thought I was crazy for thinking this thing would get no traction. People want to spend less time plugged into screens, not less.
I've yet to find someone who thought a $3500 headset would be a smash hit.
It was constant and everywhere. Tens of posters who have apparently zero connection to the company Apple other than "They released the iPhone" as if they've never had a high profile flop, as if they've never had only okay sales of a product, as if they've never tried to change the world and failed miserably, as if Apple never misses.
Because of a single damn product release. One time. At the crux of a phase change in the personal digital device world.
Just, utterly divorced from reality. I feel like these posters are half of my company's management team.
Almost everyone I know (and people here on HN) thought this would be niche at $3500. But that doesn't mean people don't want to be plugged into screens. They totally are plugged into screens - just not Vision Pro.
I've seen a backlash in recent years. Most notably amongst techies, ironically, but more recently in the general public. People are waking up.
It's getting closer to that, but not quite there yet. There's Bigscreen Beyond out already, and the Immersed Visor is coming up, and they're a lot closer to that than Quest 3 or Apple Vision Pro to glasses (but also either less powerful and/or more expensive).
https://mixed-news.com/en/immersed-visor-next-gen-xr-headset...
Early adopters didn't use iPhones, they used HP iPaqs and Dell Axim PDAs running Windows Mobile. iPhones obsoleted them by simplifying the UI so anybody aged 8-80 could use it.
If an Apple product seems like it's for 'early adopters', it's already failed.
What I really mean by that though, is that I want to make my screen time more meaningful. I don’t want to mindlessly scroll, like I often find myself doing, or like I see others doing in places like grocery store lines or on the subway.
The Apple Vision Pro is a very expensive, specialized device. When I use it, it's mostly to watch movies, TV shows, or other immersive content, but it’s still mainly just for entertainment. But I can't just sit in it and disassociate the same way I might my phone--I don't feel that it's built that way.
As for getting no traction, yeah that's correct. It's too expensive. I still love mine.
Yes. I threw my phone away 2.5 years ago (after my 3yo daughter kept saying "no phone dadda") and it has made my life significantly better. Like living in the 1990's again.
In a land of the distracted, the phoneless man is king.
That being said, I think the AVP is very cool technology, and will have important applications in the years ahead. (Just not mass market for a long time, if ever)