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Comment by Zaephyr | Hacker News Reader

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Zaephyr·

There seems to be a disconnect between the the way those in the SV startup community see FaceBook and those outside do.

My view of Carmack is positive and I think he does want to understand the FaceBook revulsion, but to quote Sinclair

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it"

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Until the deal Carmack didn't even have a FB account. If that isn't a clear signal of what he thought about FB I don't know what is.

He's feverishly working hard on damage control so that the metaverse he's intent on creating isn't either a ghost town or second life.

I don't think it has much to do with his salary. My view of him is largely positive as well, but from what I've read (Masters of Doom, a lot of his writing) he is not a man to whom empathy comes easily (which is not to say he isn't a good, moral man).

I don't think John Carmack, of all people, has to worry much about his salary.

Well, it was a diplomatic attempt at saying it's easier to like FaceBook when you get a lot of money from them.

There is a little more to all of it, but that's the nutshell.

To clarify; his relationship with and view of FaceBook is a business one. I'm implying not greed, but that by virtue of the industry he works in his view is likely to much different from that of those who are not in a position to sell to FaceBook, et al.

He does. He wants to fund Armadillo. He ran out of money to sink into it.

In that case, I stand corrected.

I have a feeling working on VR outweighs Armadillo for J Carmack. One is achievable in short order and the other is more of a gamble and passion-play.

I wasn't speculating, he actually said this. Armadillo is a bigger goal for him, and it requires a lot of money.

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