Tim Cook makes mincemeat of the Metaverse
Apple CEO Tim Cook is not a big fan of the Metaverse concept. And he shows that too.
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Future Meta the Metaverse?
Former Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a true believer in the Metaverse. He and his team have thrown billions into making this a reality and even renamed the parent company from Facebook to Meta. Investors are less enthusiastic about Zuckerberg’s vision, which is reflected in the sharp fall in Meta’s share prices.
The last of the Silicon Valley greats to speak out against the Metaverse concept is none other than Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook.
Confusion about what exactly the Metaverse is
Cook’s damning comment: The average person can’t explain exactly what the Metaverse is. Therefore, he thinks that the interest in this virtual world will be limited. He openly wonders whether people want to spend a long time in this virtual world. For those who have ever worn VR glasses, it is indeed a limiting experience that you can only move in a very small area.
Zuckerberg obviously disagrees. He sees himself engaged in a “philosophical battle” with Apple, comparing Apple’s closed technical model to Meta’s open model.
“Future is augmented reality”
Cook sees more in a mixture between the virtual and the real world, augmented reality (AR). Many people were already introduced to augmented reality through the AR game Pokemon Go or its predecessor Ingress. Apple, together with other companies such as Microsoft, Google and of course Meta, is developing equipment to make this augmented reality more user-friendly and accessible.
More opportunities in augmented reality than in the metaverse
The question is whether Cook is absolutely right. Many gamers spend hours in a game, and probably the necessary Facebook users will find a virtual world, in which all their wishes can become reality, attractive.
But he does have a point, of course. There is more added value to AR than to virtual reality, because you can combine it well with everyday life. If you are in the supermarket, or in other places outdoors, AR is of course much more useful. So the growth opportunities for this are much greater.
