Conifer Dada Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 This morning on BBC Radio 4 'Today' programme there was a feature about Facebook reaching the landmark of having 1 billion active users on a single day. The discussion moved on to possible competitors to FB and the guest pundit said that future competition would not be from copy-cat social networking websites but from new forms of online communication. He went on to mention FB's acquisition of Occulus and speculated that in the future people might actually enter a virtual simulated space and intereact with one another within that space..:smileylol: :smileylol::smileylol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Mokusei Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 I don't think Second Life competes with Facebook. Ever, on any level. The BBC guy is right that now that Facebook has established itself as "the" social network of the Internet, it isn't going to be usurped like MySpace was. Maybe it could've, in some alternate universe where SL was used for teleconferencing. But that has never been a useful function here, mostly due to the time investment required and persistant costs even when conference rooms lay empty. Families don't use SL to keep in touch as they travel. That's likely to be a barrier in getting people to use the Oculus for social contact, too. Why not just facetime, ventrilo or skype it? Strapping TV's across your face is hassle. I still struggle to see virtuality successfully infringing on real-world contact methods. The trick to any competition for Facebook would be through some other moderate engagement, high spectatorship tech model that probably uses AR or some other technology that compliments the real-world experience, not replaces it. Or just a service that has fewer parents and grandparents on it. :matte-motes-sunglasses-3: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conifer Dada Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 The point I was making came right at the end of my post - the guy suggested that in the future there might even be virtual spaces people could enter and interact in - like he didn't know that Second Life and other virtual worlds have been around for years I'm not suggesting Second Life could ever be a competitor for Facebook since the two offer completely different services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikka Luik Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 I think thry are planning further discussion during Gardener's Question Time later today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conifer Dada Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 When I tried growing flowers in SL they mutated into floating zombies making horse noises :smileylol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Mokusei Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Apologies if I mis-explained, I was agreeing with your hypothesis just looking from a different angle. I think he was probably referencing new implementations of "modern" VR technology. Not old platforms that have had the capability shoe-horned in. Given the general technical ineptitude of BBC personalities and guests I'm more inclined to believe he thinks that technology will be cyclical. In the same way that rudimentary 3D services (like Second Life) replaced 2D/2.5D chat services in the early millenium. It won't end up this way, though, because "more" is not the same as "better" and eventually all you're doing is creating a barrier to entry - like I say, not many want to strap on a gogglebox. There won't be a day where a billion people wear the Oculus Rift, ever. Facebook succeeds because it's simple. VR has a while to go before it becomes simple, if at all. Oculus only gets mentioned at all because of its place on the Hype Cycle, not because it's particularly viable for widespread adoption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conifer Dada Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 Freya Mokusei wrote: ......Facebook succeeds because it's simple...... ....and free to use! I wonder what will happen if companies paying to advertise on FB discover that their adverts just irritate people and don't generate any sales! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Mokusei Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Conifer Dada wrote: Freya Mokusei wrote: ......Facebook succeeds because it's simple...... ....and free to use! A good point to illustrate the difficulty in bringing proprietary high-tech hardware to the masses, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alwin Alcott Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Conifer Dada wrote: ....and free to use! depends what your privacy it worth.... FB sells everything you put on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sassy Romano Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Freya Mokusei wrote: . There won't be a day where a billion people wear the Oculus Rift, ever. No but give it time for when we have direct connection to the optic nerve and other such sensory inputs direct to the brain. It'll come and at that point, the real market explosion in virtual sex products will launch into hyperspace. People don't want to strap things to their head to chat with friends no but take it to a different level. The film Total Recall has it spot on. Sales of "experiences" which feel real, virtual holidays for example, not just 3D view but feel 100% real in every respect... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
YouTube
Flickr
Recommended Posts
Please take a moment to consider if this thread is worth bumping.
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now