JEFF CAPLAN'S MY MINUTE OF NEWS
Jeff Caplan’s Minute of News: Whatever happened to the metaverse?
Sep 26, 2024, 9:00 PM
Mark Zuckerberg wears a pair of Orion AR glasses during the Meta Connect conference Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Menlo Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Editor’s note: This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom.
SALT LAKE CITY — Have you been spending time in the metaverse? No? Me neither.
Facebook wasted $20 billion on the prediction that we’d all leave this mortal coil called Earth and jump into the metaverse. A place you only go with their white headset — so heavy, that after half an hour your head is hanging off your neck.
Once you get to this metaverse, they hoped you’d buy virtual products like clothing for your avatar and virtual land as an investment. And Earth — real Earth — wouldn’t matter anymore.
That was the plan. But the metaverse is a ghost town. Virtual tumbleweeds, population zero, the shopping malls are as empty as the ones on Earth. That’s $20 billion spent — poof.
But Mark Zuckerberg is hanging onto his dream, with Orion.
Orion is a pair of glasses. Augmented reality glasses that darken in the sunshine. You just slip them over your nose and, I don’t know, turn everybody into a bunny with a Snapchat filter?
Not sure, but the glasses themselves are thick, black nerd glasses. Whatever you’re visualizing, make them three times thicker. The frames are so thick, they’re creepy and he expects people to wear these and unlock a new world, while everybody else is wondering what creepy intrusive things are going on in front of your eyeballs.
You see somebody wearing Orion glasses, instinctively you’ll want to stay away. You’ll also want to stay away because of the price, which is not yet revealed. But the cost to make a single pair of Orion Glasses is $10,000. I think I’ll stick with Oakleys.
Jeff Caplan is the host of Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News on KSL NewsRadio. Follow him on Facebook and X.
