New apple hardware categories are always exciting. The Mac, The iPhone, The iPad, the Apple Watch, AirPods. And now this.
Sure you could argue that the HomePod should also be on that list as an example of something that didn’t work out, but in all the other examples Apple has a leading product still in that category.
Will VR be the next big thing?
I’ve long been more afraid of VR than excited for it. It’s hard not to see a success in this areas as potentially really bad for humanity as a whole and me specifically.
A lot of people feel this way about generative AI but for me VR was always a bigger threat. VR gives the AI the tools to control us. It’s the space cruise ships in Wall-e. That doesnt happen without VR. I dont think we need AI for that to happen. We are already doing it to each other with social media. VR doesnt need to be more compelling than what we already have it just has to be more immersive and we are fucked.
People will leave the house even less than they do now, and eventually just stay in the lazy boy all day and night.
Is that so much worse than what’s already happening with phones today?
What if its just an iPad attached to your face. But what if by attaching it to your face you get a huge screen but then its just a screen. What is typing in VR like? Is typing the main reason we need those pass through cameras because most people need to be able to see their fingers when they type. I think i can type pretty well without looking at my hands at all which is why i must be able to do play piano. It’s a much much smaller keyboard with much bigger keys so I should be able to do it right?
But what would be better right now if i was in VR?
Writing maybe isn’t the killer use case but i can imagine design is really fun. QA could be really compelling. What would a product manager do in VR? What would I use VR for?
What is it was just the biggest iPad ever made, as large as you can possibly imagine it. Running iPad apps? What would i be looking at right how? Maybe have some NBA stuff pulled up?
I do think multitasking is potentially much better in VR. You could have a huge screen allowing you to
There were a few others that didn’t break through
Software
- Ping → iMessages
- MobileMe → iCloud
Hardware
- Apple Hifi → HomePod
Smart speakers is the real example from modern apple that they still havent figured out