Facebook May Rebrand Oculus Rift, Import Interface - Update
- Thread starter Alex Co
- Start date
Yep, I thought it was all BS. If the whole internet is freaking out on something on the basis of no evidence and then an anonymous source says that all the things they're worried about are going to happen then that anonymous source is a troll.
Well, I'll be watching this closely.
The update gives me some hope.
Who knows? Maybe, just maybe I might start disliking facebook a little bit less.
The update gives me some hope.
Who knows? Maybe, just maybe I might start disliking facebook a little bit less.
Read the update on the article. Facebook (supposedly, they need to confirm that) will continue to allow the OR team to operate autonomously just like it has done with previous acquisitions.
It ultimately doesn't matter what the people buying it thought. All they promised was that they were working on making VR a reality and they've sure as hell done that. They're already working on a real consumer release now and the new Dev Kit is a ton better. Everything they've promised they've done. Their mere existence has sprouted competition and forced the hands of companies like Sony and Microsoft to have something ready since VR is clearly a product we're interested in. It isn't just gimmicky like 3D and a motion control wand. It is real immersion and a way to trick your brain into presence.
So what has anyone lost? As of right now, the only thing that has changed is the logo. All the Rift developers are in their cubes today in the same town doing the same work right now. All the existing developers still have access to all the tools and the community is still there. Nothing has been lost, nothing has been changed, no promises have been broken. They just released a new Dev kit that is better in every way and are going on to make the consumer version.
But I will reiterate this point, those kickstarters who bought the rift were consumers when they bought it, not altruistic backers. You may have people who put money in it just to make it happen, like Notch, but I think they'd be mad that any uncertainty was cast on the project at all. Not that they've actually lost something yet. Carmack and Palmer were certainties, people that were trusted. Facebook is an unknown. But the Occulus Rift team CONSISTENTLY stated that the kickstarter was purely for developers to buy the product. I'd also say that where the Rift was originally an indie hardware company (if that word may be used), it's now part of a major corporation. That will irk the indie community.
If anything, I'd say this shouldn't have been allowed on kickstarter because it wasn't financially backing the product so much as buying their hardware and "kickstarting" it with development time.
Zuckerberg stated that their big plans are after games. [http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/03/facebook-buys-oculus-virtual-reality.html] They plan to leave Oculus to the gaming hardware currently in production and that their goals are more strategically longterm. You know, like maybe they'll produce the Rift and then a much cheaper $100 option that's more for more basic (low latency) social interactions. We have no idea what they really plan to do and it's in their best interest to keep quite until it's closer to release but the one thing they have said is that they aren't getting in the way of the gaming hardware.
So I expect at least one true consumer Rift. But as I've said multiple times, it does not benefit Facebook to ruin the product. If no one buys it, they've just sunk $2b for no reason.
EDIT: this article was updated. Facebook is claiming that the OR will still operate autonomously just like their other acquisitions have. In the shortterm this will be like nothing has changed except for more money in OR's pocket. In the longterm it means Facebook will be a major player in the VR landscape's future.
Frankly, I look forward to a day where spam is actually relevant. Spam is already a fact of life and it would be a less shitty fact of life if it was about products that we would ever actually consider buying.
If facebook plays a heavy hand then all this concern and worry will be right. But we're looking at throwing the baby out with what we're not even sure is bathwater yet. Knee->jerk.
People bought the tech because it's good tech. Do you remember the shitty latency ridden VR we had before then? You look left and then the screen starts to look left? Or the screen was only a small low res square field of vision that in no way felt real? The Rift had already solved both of those problems. Even the 720p dev kit was awesome.dunam said:
It ultimately doesn't matter what the people buying it thought. All they promised was that they were working on making VR a reality and they've sure as hell done that. They're already working on a real consumer release now and the new Dev Kit is a ton better. Everything they've promised they've done. Their mere existence has sprouted competition and forced the hands of companies like Sony and Microsoft to have something ready since VR is clearly a product we're interested in. It isn't just gimmicky like 3D and a motion control wand. It is real immersion and a way to trick your brain into presence.
So what has anyone lost? As of right now, the only thing that has changed is the logo. All the Rift developers are in their cubes today in the same town doing the same work right now. All the existing developers still have access to all the tools and the community is still there. Nothing has been lost, nothing has been changed, no promises have been broken. They just released a new Dev kit that is better in every way and are going on to make the consumer version.
But I will reiterate this point, those kickstarters who bought the rift were consumers when they bought it, not altruistic backers. You may have people who put money in it just to make it happen, like Notch, but I think they'd be mad that any uncertainty was cast on the project at all. Not that they've actually lost something yet. Carmack and Palmer were certainties, people that were trusted. Facebook is an unknown. But the Occulus Rift team CONSISTENTLY stated that the kickstarter was purely for developers to buy the product. I'd also say that where the Rift was originally an indie hardware company (if that word may be used), it's now part of a major corporation. That will irk the indie community.
If anything, I'd say this shouldn't have been allowed on kickstarter because it wasn't financially backing the product so much as buying their hardware and "kickstarting" it with development time.
I'm actually a bit concerned that Facebook doesn't have a clear vision of what to do with the Rift.
Zuckerberg stated that their big plans are after games. [http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/03/facebook-buys-oculus-virtual-reality.html] They plan to leave Oculus to the gaming hardware currently in production and that their goals are more strategically longterm. You know, like maybe they'll produce the Rift and then a much cheaper $100 option that's more for more basic (low latency) social interactions. We have no idea what they really plan to do and it's in their best interest to keep quite until it's closer to release but the one thing they have said is that they aren't getting in the way of the gaming hardware.
So I expect at least one true consumer Rift. But as I've said multiple times, it does not benefit Facebook to ruin the product. If no one buys it, they've just sunk $2b for no reason.
EDIT: this article was updated. Facebook is claiming that the OR will still operate autonomously just like their other acquisitions have. In the shortterm this will be like nothing has changed except for more money in OR's pocket. In the longterm it means Facebook will be a major player in the VR landscape's future.
I don't consider Google to be all that bad with how they use information. Facebook seems to change privacy statements in weird ways that get a lot of our personal information to people we don't want to have it while Google plays as a go-between where companies aren't given our personal information but are able to market to an "internet" persona we build up from our searches. This should eventually result in ads actually being relevant to the user without being more invasive. I've already noticed that I get a lot more tech and gaming ads when I browse and I've actually found that useful at times. Compare with car and drink ads that I couldn't care less about. Or tampon and viagra ads.
Frankly, I look forward to a day where spam is actually relevant. Spam is already a fact of life and it would be a less shitty fact of life if it was about products that we would ever actually consider buying.
I think Facebook could ruin the product. I just don't think it's in their best interest. Turning a display into a console with proprietary online checkins and other shenanigans would largely harm developers and make the product unsupportable. It would be a bad decision that would kill their investment. I think we're going to get at least one true consumer Occulus Rift even if you don't count the DK2 which is itself pretty darn close and still lightyears beyond anything the market has ever seen.
If facebook plays a heavy hand then all this concern and worry will be right. But we're looking at throwing the baby out with what we're not even sure is bathwater yet. Knee->jerk.
I'm not sure how this is a point. Every product has a life cycle. It is in a Company's best interest to use revenues of their successful product to stave off the end of its own life cycle and to expand into other successful products. Business 101. It's like you're complaining that Facebook is doing what it's supposed to be doing. Anything else would be a gross injustice to shareholders. Like a captain failing to right a listing ship.
They also purchased instagram. Note that these products continue to function, largely unchanged. Why do you think Facebook will suddenly change the way that they act
If they offered me a job, I'd happily take the job. It looks like they're trying to be the next Google by expanding into all these application and tech markets. If they succeed in expansion then there may be no stopping them.
Honestly branding I'd be ok with since it is facebooks product, BUT a facebook based interface would kill what little interest I have left for the OR, also this kind of goes against the promises of the OR developers that they wouldn't let Facebook interfere with development, nothing major but still
I don't necessarily hate facebook, especially compared to alot of other major corporations, but they aren't exactly in my good books either...
I refused to preorder when I heard facebook was buying it and figured i'd wait and see what happens, but this kind of news isn't exactly helping change my mind about not pre-ordering...
I don't necessarily hate facebook, especially compared to alot of other major corporations, but they aren't exactly in my good books either...
I refused to preorder when I heard facebook was buying it and figured i'd wait and see what happens, but this kind of news isn't exactly helping change my mind about not pre-ordering...
I have to agree with your position. Right now there just isn't enough information to tell if Facebook really will screw up OR. They may end up doing that, or they might not, but it's just way too early to tell (and while CliffyB may have crossed the line by calling Notch a baby, Notch's reaction is definitely what I would call knee-jerk). This could end up being really good for OR and there is precedent for this sort of thing turning out really well.Lightknight said:
Here's a quote from a random internet comment on a 2009 article that I think is very relevant.
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/business/media/01disney.html
And then we got Thor, Captain America, The Avengers, Iron Man 3...And soon Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant Man, Avengers 2...(and a couple of Muppets movies to boot)
It's true that Facebook buying Oculus could be Microsoft buying Rareware again...but it could also just as easily be Disney buying Marvel.
Also, like that article you linked to said, Facebook wanted to acquire OR not for anything short term, but for the long term. After finishing the main gaming version of the OR, what should Oculus do next? Well they can use that same technology and put it to use in other places. They can use it to create a superior alternative to the google glasses...
Go on a camping trip and record the experience in 3d. Share that experience on youtube for other people to see. Put that technology in mobile devices and record 3d videos from your phone that you can view later with oculus. View a 3d recorded concert or baseball game with the ability to change seats at will...Forget using GoPro to record footage of yourself surfing or skating or something, now you could share the actual experience! Hell, more advanced cameras could record all directions at the same time, allowing you to physically look around your recorded 3d footage as if you were actually there.
If that is what Facebook is planning...I'm going to be honest, I'm completely on board and I think it's a genius move.