TL;DR
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In our mind, no company will be able to convince consumers to put thousands of dollars into VR headsets without a much broader ecosystem of ‘things to do’…
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*Unless that company is Apple*
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Apple seems to have mastered the sales pitch of “Here’s a new product in a brand new form factor… it can’t do that much just yet – but in the long run everyone gonna have one.”
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And it is now rumored that Apple will announce its ‘Mixed Reality Headset’ in three weeks.
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This allows third-party developers to build Web3-enabled AR/VR experiences for a large audience.
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Our guess? It will be the “iPhone moment” of the metaverse. Terribly. Exciting.
Full story
We need a big ol’ *asterisk* in addition to a theory we put forward here earlier in this newsletter. The theory is this:
If the metaverse ever becomes “something,” it won’t start in VR.
Our guess has always been that it will follow a path close/similar to this:
Web3 enabled gaming → leads to interconnected 3D virtual worlds → leads to the 3D visualization of the 2D internet → leads people to choose to massively enhance their experience through VR.
(Click here for a clearer/deeper explanation).
Point is, in our mind, no company (looking at you Meta) will be able to convince the average consumer to put thousands of dollars into a VR headset without a much broader ecosystem of ‘things to do’…
*Unless that company is Apple*
Apple seems to have mastered the sales pitch of:
“Here’s a new product in a brand new form factor…it can’t do much just yet, but in the long run everyone will want/have one.”
For example, from a certain perspective:
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The first iPhone was not worth it. It was a $500 purchase to combine three things many consumers already owned: a phone, an iPod, and an Internet browser.
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The first iPad? That was just a blown-up version of the iPhone (with no camera).
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The first Apple Watch? An overpriced Fitbit that sent you push notifications.
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AirPods? Expensive wireless earphones that you would lose.
But that combination of:
New form factor + intuitive design + just enough exciting features to play with immediately seems = a hot consumer product every time.
Why are we explaining all this?
Because Apple is rumored to be announcing its ‘Mixed Reality Headset’ in three weeks.
And if/when that happens, we get the feeling that this “3D version of the Internet,” which we call the metaverse, is going to skip all the steps we laid out at the beginning of this article.
This means consumers don’t need to be moved from Web3 gaming to 3D virtual worlds/websites before making the jump to VR.
Hell, Web3 probably won’t even feature in Apple’s first product/software offering!
What it will provide is an opportunity for third-party developers to build Web3-enabled AR/VR experiences for a mass audience.
Our guess? It will be the “iPhone moment” of the metaverse.
Terribly. Exciting.
