My Vision Pro demo, tech literacy, and a poll on social media apps
Hey there everyone. You may have noticed that last fall I stopped posting. There’s a few reasons for that, but in lieu of getting into all the details, I wanted to just try to start writing again.
I’m going to relax some of the format for now. So here are just a few things I wanted to talk about:
I tried a demo of the Vision Pro at the Apple Store.
Some of you got long diatribes in your texts about this experience of mine, but here are some of my main takeaways:
The good
The tech is very impressive. The hardware is the best in any VR headset.
The Apple design system and software walled garden gives the experience a lot of familiarity.
The immersive video stuff is very cool.
The weird
The thing is HEAVY. Within about 3 minutes of a 35 minute demo, I was already uncomfortable. There’s a reason the other companies make their headsets out of plastic and lightweight metals.
I was hoping that the advanced eye alignment and high resolution displays would not strain my eyes, but they certainly did. I would not have wanted to spend much longer in the headset at one time than I did.
There are a lot of shortcomings in the software, including but not limited to: limited app store, horrible window management, the basically useless VR keyboard.
Miscellaneous gripes
It is a very lonely experience in there. There are currently no meaningful shared experiences for multiple users to have.
It is trying to be a productivity AND entertainment device. It is not particularly good at either. A $3,500 portable home theatre would actually be sick, but the thing sucks to wear, has terrible battery life, and makes your eyes hurt.
Conclusion: The Meta Quest 3 does about 80% of what the Vision Pro can, about 80% as well, but for 14% the cost. There is no reason that this should be your first, second, or third VR headset.
The public’s tech literacy is not great. Let’s see what you know.
Before I deleted TikTok this weekend, I couldn’t stop getting videos about how The Kids Are Very Much Not Alright. Teachers across the country are reporting the horrific state of their kids. It seems the pandemic has set kids back educationally and socially in ways that aren’t entirely understood, but are certainly negative. Seems like a great time to start banning books, huh.
This is incredibly concerning, but it makes me curious about similar failings in tech literacy. So, I ask you to consider the following questions and whether you know the answers:
The lights in your house are to the electrical grid as your internet router is to…what? Do you know how internet literally gets to your residence?
When you enter a password into a website to log in, do you know what’s happening? Do you know why you need so many different kinds of characters?
Could you articulate the difference between WiFi and cellular, and the pros and cons of each?
I’m making another effort to decrease my attachment to my phone. I’m curious how you think about the social media apps.
This weekend I deleted a ton of apps off my phone in an effort to be more intentional about how I use it. But this doesn’t mean that I don’t miss TikTok and Instagram. There are things I like about those apps. TikTok keeps me informed, engaged in current events, entertained, and occasionally is an outlet for my own thoughts. Instagram gives me an almost daily check in on all of my best friends as well as an outlet for expression.
But I realize that I fall back on these apps when I am socially uncomfortable, or bored, or just looking to pass time, and they are not particularly “nutritious” ways to do that.
So, here’s a couple questions for you:
If you have nothing to offer, that is absolutely fine. I encourage you to ponder more! Do you think about why you like certain apps? Why you use certain apps? Are there things you wish you could change, not just for yourself, but on a societal scale?
I don’t want to say that arachne is “back,” but I hope to keep writing here. Expect more stuff like this where I ask for responses. Talk to you soon, Alex