There was a bunch of releases from Apple last night, much of it OS upgrades – the iPad, iPhone and iWatch(?) versions, but there was also a new MacBook Air announced.
And Apple’s long awaited foray into VR (virtual reality) / AR (augmented reality), Vision Pro.
This is basically a set of goggles attached to a belt pack it seems (photos are a bit vague at that point) – all the main details etc are at https://www.apple.com/au/newsroom/2023/06/introducing-apple-vision-pro/ – but at USD$3299, I really cannot see this becoming mainstream. (In Australia we won’t see it until late next year we are told).
Now I will probably be called a hypocrite as I was admittedly a champion of 3D TV, but I cannot get excited about this. I dabbled briefly with Samsung VR about 5 years ago, and whilst I could see promise there, it has proven, in the main, not to be a mainstream technology beyond some gimmicky stuff and gamers. There was always the hope “around the corner” of the revolutionary B2B or medical applications, but they generally just didn’t happen beyond very specialist areas.
In simple terms, if there ain’t a quid in it, developers are not going to put their time, effort and expertise into it.
But back to the Vision Pro. I have been around long enough to remember examples of Apple being technically clever, because of course it can be, no-one would dispute that. And often it hits the mark.
The original Macintosh, the iPod, iPad and of course the iPhone are testament to that. But every so often it is TOO clever for its own good. I bring you exhibit one, the Lisa. A brilliant concept (if not at least partially nicked from Xerox) but w-a-y overpriced. And I smell the Lisa in the Vision Pro. And who can forget the infamous “puck mouse”? (Most of humankind actually).
There is the usual quote from CEO Tim Cook (that I reckon they have attached to a user key as a boilerplate in a WP package somewhere – you know, like “never before in the history of motion pictures …”).
“Today marks the beginning of a new era for computing,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Just as the Mac introduced us to personal computing, and iPhone introduced us to mobile computing, Apple …” blah, blah blah. You get the idea.
My own feeling is that yet again, it is a solution trying to find a problem. Perhaps Apple spent so much money on developing it that had to release something in order to recoup some of the massive dollars it must have invested?
I may be forced to eat my words in 2 years time, but I don’t think so. Many have tried to enter this space – Samsung, Meta/Oculus, Microsoft, Google and more, and all have slunk away with their tail between their legs having burnt millions of millions of dollars with no discernible success.
Just because it has a bit of fruit stamped on it is no guarantee methinks.
Let me know what YOU think in the comments below.
