What do you think of the "metaverse” — a virtual reality construct intended to supplant the internet, merge virtual life with real life and create endless new playgrounds for everyone?

What do I think? I think it's laughable.

Zuckerberg's vision of the future I suppose is patterned on Stephenson's Snow Crash:Hiro Protagonist, a hacker/pizza delivery driver in an urban hellscape, general poverty and people escaping into an augmented reality.

Facebook ran into trouble turning our reality into a fully dystopian nightmare, so it has created an alternative one to fulfill that task.

I’d recommend staying away.

The metaverse has nothing to do with Zuckerberg or Facebook. He is simply joining an already well-known concept that heavily developed elsewhere. In other words, playing catch-up (albeit with a lot of funding).

The metaverse has nothing to do with Zuckerberg or Facebook. He is simply joining an already well-known concept that heavily developed elsewhere. In other words, playing catch-up (albeit with a lot of funding).

My (limited) understanding is that while Zuckerberg had nothing to do with developing it, he is now basically trying to take it over, and presumably ruin it like he ruined facebook. Hence everyone associating the two.

Lame.

It's just an extension of Animal Crossing and other online environments. Some people will enjoy it, some will condemn it as the work of the devil, harming women, children and small furry animals, and demand it be banned, and some (including me) will simply stick with the net services we already have. It may never even happen. Zuckerberg is the Emmanuel Goldstein of our Orwellian dystopia and governments are good at banning things. Without switching to a distributed topology, Web 2.0 is living on borrowed time. If it does happen, it will be expensive, the kit will be uncomfortable and people will trip over their dogs wearing it. It's not worth having a massive hissy fit over it, as it won't be mandatory and it isn't even here yet. There are other, better technologies on the way, if governments don't ban them too.

What do you think of the "metaverse” — a virtual reality construct intended to supplant the internet, merge virtual life with real life and create endless new playgrounds for everyone?

What, like Nagatacho?

basically to hell with this crap! No thanks, digital is already screwing up so much of the world, this a VERY BAD way to go!

Hellverse is more like it with Zuckerberg in charge!

What I find really sad is that people feel the need to escape to a different reality because their real one is so unsatisfying. That's the real tragedy

What I find really sad is that people feel the need to escape to a different reality because their real one is so unsatisfying. That's the real tragedy

While that's true, that's not everything this will be. I've bought an Oculus Rift 2, and I love it. We're going to do a trial with them to see if they are yet at the point where we can effectively use them for VR meetings, and whether that justifies buying them for our staff. Maybe not yet, it may be a few years/generations away still, but it's getting close.

I won't pay $1 for a pair of Air Jordon sneakers in the real world. I am absolutely not going to pay anything for any merchandise in a make believe world.

While that's true, that's not everything this will be. I've bought an Oculus Rift 2, and I love it. We're going to do a trial with them to see if they are yet at the point where we can effectively use them for VR meetings, and whether that justifies buying them for our staff. Maybe not yet, it may be a few years/generations away still, but it's getting close.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti tech. And like everything in life, it can be used to improve lives or ruin them. I'm talking about those people whose lives revolve around these virtual playgrounds. It would be great to have VR meetings and not have to go to the office. VR might be one of the ways to help with global warming.

I guess the question was phrased in a way that made it seem more like we were talking about people that just live in this new reality to escape from the old one.

If you do not like it do not use it. Amazing on how people demand what other people can do. Am sure it is harmless.

No Thank you, I would rather enjoy my life outside, read a book, go running, and enjoy nature, not be bothered by this.

it will be very useful for governments and corporations to have multitudes away from reality and oversight of their activities while people stay connected. This has been the plot of many movies. To take a line from another movie though the winning move is not to play

I don't even have a TV in my house. Can you imagine how peaceful that is? Just the sounds of the birds chirping outside all day long. As I sit here now enjoying a very peaceful sunset, just the sound of some frogs croaking. That'll do me.

@Sean, you really like the annoying sound of frogs? I allow a possum to live in my back yard hoping they will eat those annoying frogs. Birds are another story as long as they limit their singing to my awake times.

the annoying sound of frogs?

Frogs are not annoying. We used to have a huge open space given over to nature behind our house, and it was lovely, as Sean describes, listening to the frogs croaking in the evening as they promise to gobble up all the nasty veggie-eating bugs.

Now they're building a ginormous warehouse on this 'waste' land; the frogs, egrets, quail, ducks and kingfishers are all gone and all we get in the evenings is the very annoying sound of builders working overtime and the beep-beep of trucks reversing.

Grr.

I can imagine some folk living in hell holes would be happy to escape to the metaverse, but I'm happy where I am, beeping trucks and all.

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