Folks balked at the $3499 starting price at last summer’s WWDC, when Apple announced the price of their latest effort “to make a dent in the universe,” the Apple Vision Pro “Spacial Computing” (AR) headset. Comparisons to the prices of the Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality competition were cited with distain. Many asked, Who would be foolish enough to spend that much on just another AR/VR headset?

AR/VR glasses/devices circa 2023
AR/VR glasses/devices circa 2023

It’s not accidental that Apple decided to open preorders with delivery dates for their high tech goggles right around the 40th anniversary of the announcement of the original Macintosh. Many pundits, like Leo Laporte from the TWiT network, recalled whimsically his own experience seeing and then desperately wanting the little beige box, plunking down his Macy’s credit card just to get his own Macintosh. Parallels can be seen in the language used for each of these announcements. Beginning with the Macintosh in 1984, then repeated in 2007 with the iPhone and echoed again last summer: we were reminded about how these platforms changed the personal computer industry and  how it would change how we would interact with the technology in our lives. Each time Apple faced down critics saying that no one would spend that much money on a computer/phone/headset. But there they were, as Laporte recalled, buying the first model of the Macintosh and in Laporte’s case, then buying every single model that was introduced over the next 40-years. What does that tell you?

1984 Macintosh presentation video
1984 Macintosh presentation video

In the case of the original Macintosh, they sold well, but didn’t sell as well as they had hoped and Steve Jobs eventually lost his job, the poor sales performance of the original Mac probably didn’t help. Also, it should be noted that 1984’s original Macintosh price of $2,400 would equal over $7,000 in 2024 dollars. Funny enough, instead of buying a Macintosh I spent my $2,400 in 1984 on my first computer, a Kaypro IV, that was definitely not a computer designed for the rest of us (that computer, its operating system and company disappeared less than 10-years later). The Macintosh never dominated the personal computer market, but it changed the market such that every computer and its operating system going forward would be a mouse-driven graphical user-interface. 

  • Apple Macintosh System 1.0 Welcome Splash - circa 1984
    Apple Macintosh System 1.0 Welcome Splash – circa 1984
  • Apple Macintosh System 1.0 desktop - circa 1984
    Apple Macintosh System 1.0 desktop – circa 1984
  • Microsoft Windows 1.01 - circa 1985
    Microsoft Windows 1.01 – circa 1985
  • Amiga OS 4.1 - circa 1985
    Amiga OS 4.1 – circa 1985
  • IBM OS2 Warp - circa 1996
    IBM OS2 Warp – circa 1996
  • BeOS5-circa 1995
    BeOS5-circa 1995
  • Linux GNOME_1.0_(1999,_03)_with_GNOME_Panel_1_and_File_Manager
    Linux GNOME_1.0_(1999,_03)_with_GNOME_Panel_1_and_File_Manager

Apple, reunited with Steve Job did it again in 2007 with the introduction of the original iPhone. Again, pundits said Apple had no business selling smartphones that were way too expensive, and more than a few said that no one wants to listen to music on their phones. That didn’t age well. And again, Apple changed how we would interact with our technology and our relationship with our phones. Just look at prototypes of Google’s Android platform before the introduction of the iPhone. They were set to follow in the footsteps of Blackberry and the Palm Treo with their little plastic keyboards. Those plans changed in a big hurry after the January2007 iPhone announcement. In the original 2007 iPhone announcement, Jobs said that if they could grab just 10% of the smartphone market that that would be a huge success (because the smartphone market had the potential of becoming way bigger than the personal computer market had ever been). Google/Android quickly pivoted (and pissed on Steve Jobs) and eventually came to dominate the smartphone market through their third party hardware manufacturers. But Apple’s touch-based interface changed the market.

2012-04-25_the-verge-google-phone
2012-04-25_the-verge-google-phone

Reviews of the Apple Vision Pro units have been going up on YouTube and the reviews are generally supportive but also left many reviewers wondering if this wasn’t a technology solution in search of a problem (or killer app). Besides the expense, they wondered if users would put up with having these things on their faces for any length of time. I’m reminded of the early iPhone doubters complaining that no one wanted to listen to music on their phones, or that no one was going to spend money on a smartwatch when they could just as easily get the time off of their smartphones. Yeah, don’t follow their stock tips. One of the more entertaining reviews was from the Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern, who decided to wear her high tech goggles for 24-hours straight and go skiing with them on (because they do look like ski googles). 

iJustine fan-girled all over her Apple Vision Pro, but at the same time, it was the most complete walk-through of the unbox and setup experience. iJustine (and her friends) had a better experience using their headsets to do a virtual/avatar based FaceTime call than Joanna Stern and her friends (she looked a little less bloated than Stern and friends…). Those of us with weaker jaw-lines/rounder faces should probably prepare ourselves for less than flattering avatars. Ack. 

So, when will I be getting my headset? Yeah, I’m not really in a position to make the investment, having left my teaching job last May. But, should I find myself more gainfully employed, it’s definitely on my wishlist. I mean, even though I just spent a bunch of money on a 40-inch monitor, I like the idea of pairing the headset with a portable computer setup so that I can work anywhere with a much bigger “screen” than whatever the real screen size of the paired device. I love having lots of screens to work with so that I can be writing in one screen, have notes and information in another screen and just move information back and forth. That’s why I have so many physical monitors on my desktops, imagine if I could do the same thing anywhere with a headset paired to a laptop. And as far as worrying about looking like a dork in public… really? Since when have I made that the basis for any decision? As long as I’m not compromising anyone’s safety (including my own), who the hell is going to care? I’m reminded of the VR goggles guy that briefly showed up in the Anime Serial Experiments: Lain (1998). It didn’t turn out so great for him, but I don’t plan on walking around sketchy parts of town hacking government agencies (or to go skiing, for that matter). 

  • serial experiments lain - AR googles guy-1
    serial experiments lain – AR googles guy-1
  • serial experiments lain - AR googles guy-2
    serial experiments lain – AR googles guy-2
  • serial experiments lain - AR googles guy-3

It’ll be interesting to see how this works out. There are a lot of people who are perfectly okay with doing everything via their smartphones and no other device or computer. And maybe we’re getting to the point where having a stand-alone general purpose desktop computer isn’t necessary. All that one needs is a good (safe) Internet connection and a device that gives one all the (visual) space and input method needed to get one’s work done. George R.R. Martin uses an older computer with no Internet connection or apps so that he isn’t distracted when he’s writing. That’s good for him. I know myself well enough to know that I just like having more than one screen to work with and love the idea of not being chained to my desk. So, I guess I need to get some paying work do so that I can afford to experiment with the future of human-technology interaction. Here we go, denting the universe again. 

serial experiments lain - lain's multiple virtual screens
serial experiments lain – lain’s multiple virtual screens

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