Well that happened. Apple made its big announcement of its first new product line in a decade. And what a joke it is. Virtual reality goggles. $3,400.00 virtual reality goggles. Bite me Apple. In fact, delete your account. The company which made industry-changing devices for years under Steve Jobs like iTunes, the iPod, iPhone, and iMac long ago started becoming a follower instead of a leader. Even the iPhone began to roll out features that people immediately identified as longtime Android features.
Listen. Apple makes great products. iPads are beautiful tablets. I have an iMac in my office that makes video work easy and seamless. But those are all products that a different Apple created. To jump on augmented/virtual reality now after Google Glass laughably failed is more than head-scratching. It should make Apple stakeholders demand Tim Cook’s resignation.
The thing is, I bet if someone gave me a pair I would have a fun time with them for a little while. Until they started fogging up, or the padding around them began to bother my skin or make me sweat, or pull my hair, or I needed to rub my eyes. The reports about the half-hour curated experience set up for the announcement described a product that sounds pretty amazing in spurts. But do we really honestly want to be like Ready Player One? Are Apple and Facebook inviting us to give up on the real world and live in theirs? I’m 44 years old, but seeing where people are trying to lead us with technology makes me feel like a 90 year old wondering why they make us wear seatbelts these days.
Apple doesn’t know why it makes new things anymore. The company used to invent products that made technology more accessible and helpful. The early Apple computers put what had been clunky hobby machines in a compact package that allowed people to use a computer without also being a coder. The iPhone let people connect to the world outside of themselves and take advantage of important emerging communications technology, the iPod allowed users to enjoy more music on the go than they ever could have imagined and then integrated the concept into cars. Their new Goggles invite us to stay at home, alone and imagine we are living a life we are not.
I love technology. I surround myself with smart gadgets, TV gadgets, computers etc. But I never forget to walk in the woods, go to the lake, have a day trip to the beach, and interact with real people face to face. Apple seems to think that living an actual life is a problem to be fixed when it is actually the solution to a lot of the pent-up issues that have plagued us for the last decade.
This product is way too expensive for normal families, too costly to be purchased in bulk by office managers and I haven’t even begun to talk about the obvious problems that could occur if people were to drive with them on. No Apple No.
