Nobody wants VR. You can try and ram it down our throats all you want with TV adds showing befuddled old people discovering the wonders of a phone strapped to their head, or calling VR systems a "hot Christmas gift," but that won't change the fact that nobody wants it. It's too awkward, and it makes the user too vulnerable. You cannot create this market.
> "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance," said Ballmer. "It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get."
But that's probably because I agree with the posted article, and think VR will have a very big future.
While witty, your comparison to the Ballmer quote has nothing to do with what I said. I didn't say "VR won't do well because people are cheap," I didn't say "VR won't do well because many similar, lower-tech products meet its needs fine." Further, the iPhone was immediately well-received and a huge success for Apple. VR products are not taking off, and will not do so. I'm not commenting on a press release or a tech demo. These things are carried by major electronics stores today.
If the headsets cost $50, they'd still be a novelty. Case in point: Many cell phone users have the ability to use some of this technology today with a low-cost addon. I'm no hermit and apart from some reddit posts, I have yet to see a single person using any VR device.
I repeat, most people don't want VR, and even most who do find it underwhelming at best, nauseating at worst. The comments here are evidence of that.
About 15% of my gaming guild has either rift or oculus. A guy at my 100 person office picked it up over christmas. Basically 100% of gamers say they want VR at least eventually - they at worst think that the current tech is cumbersome (wires or space concerns) or that there aren't compelling games out yet. Contrary to your reasoning that "most people don't want this", I find that everybody does want VR. How do you reconcile this?
Nobody wants VR _as it is currently implemented_. With goggles the size of glasses, no tether, and the ability to see around you at the flick of a switch, it would take over the planet. That could be a while off though.
Your comment isn't popular, but I believe there are more folks who agree with you (silently) than would admit. Let's have a similar conversation about 3D Printing.
