🕶️ Axios Finish Line: Meta glasses

Plus: What we're reading | Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios Finish Line By Mike Allen, Erica Pandey and Jim VandeHei ·Oct 12, 2022 Oct 12, 2022 Smart Brevity™ count: 531 words ... 2 mins.     1 big thing: First big move to a virtual workplace Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   Meta this week rolled out the most advanced, widely available virtual reality glasses ever — and found a rival/partner to bring them into your home office: Microsoft.  Why it matters: You need to pay close attention to Meta — and others — who are trying to will into existence the metaverse, which is basically a 3D virtual world. Facebook's parent sells the Meta Quest Pro headset ($1,500 a pop). Microsoft has the platform for you to use it.  🧠 Catch me up: The metaverse is an interactive, 3D version of today's internet, where people can travel through virtual spaces. But it's unclear how broad a space companies can peacefully share, or how easy it will be to move your stuff from place to place. 🖼️ The big picture: Almost no one will use this regularly or reliably, for now. But when the giants throw tens of billions at building something, it looks likely to happen — and will grow more affordable and ubiquitous with time.  💬 Thought bubble from Axios chief tech correspondent Ina Fried, who test-drove the Quest Pro, and has tried most VR headsets on the market: It's still really early, but Meta is moving in the right direction with the Quest Pro. You can see your real keyboard as you take notes, and sip a drink without taking off the headset. But office work in VR still isn't comfortable enough to do for hours at a time. And it would be nice to be able to put on a headset and feel like you are right next to your co-worker in a remote meeting. Ina also remembers seeing the first iPhone and knowing it would be a game changer — even though that first model didn't have copy and paste. Many people scoffed that no one would want to type on its tiny flat screen. 🥊 Reality check, from Axios managing editor Scott Rosenberg: There's no guarantee of success no matter how big the spend. The road to where we are today is filled with the steaming hulks of dead billion-dollar projects that tech giants threw their best brains at, from Apple's Newton to Microsoft's Windows Phone.  The bottom line, from Ben Thompson in today's Stratechery: VR's usefulness is likely to emerge first in the workplace — in part because "you're more likely to use it if your company pays for it." Go deeper.     A message from Axios Business news worthy of your time     Together, Axios Markets, Axios Macro, and Axios Closer decipher what the daily deluge of news, statistics, and analysis really means — and why it matters. Subscribe for free.     2. 📚 What we're reading Cover: Liveright   Matthew Ball — an entrepreneur, venture investor and former head of strategy for Amazon Studios — is out with a bestselling field guide to the metaverse that we highly recommend for its clarity and accessibility. Why it matters: "The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything" argues the metaverse is "the next great computing and networking platform, similar in scope to the transition from the personal computer and fixed-line internet of the 1990s to the era of mobile and cloud computing we live in today." 🛒 In a footnote, Ball compares the metaverse to online groceries: "Millions of consumers have known about online grocery service for years but refused to try it." Once they did, many will never go back. Go deeper: Interview with Matthew Ball.   Are you a fan of this email format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 300 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: