Apple, Tech Journalism, and a Decade of Out of Control Hype...

After a decade of reporting on a future mythical "Apple Glasses" product, what do we actually have?

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#apple #journalism #visionpro

[myfakeguuglaccount]

Juan is one of the few tech vloggers keeping it real. I'm so sick of the catchy big names that just spew the same drivel.

[SpardasTechReviews]

I'm not gonna lie for a second I didn't think it was you talking. Lol

[lcineo]

It so sad so many tech "journalists" are just fanboys of their respective brand and their influence changes the perception of entire markets. Thanks for the counter argument Juan.

[TheoWerewolf]

It's kind of a closed loop. Apple targeted 'creatives' from the beginning and so most people who work in art departments, or write for a living tend to use Macs. Apple has also always promoted their products as luxury and aspirational - and that created a mindset of needing to show their status by having these products and making sure everyone knows it. In one example, I noticed a post where the writer states that they are taking their MacBook Pro to work on the beach... a normal person would say 'laptop'. I've even seen what I call 'The iPad Clutch'. It's when you hold your iPad flat against your chest with one arm across the top, and the other across the bottom, framing the Apple logo, to make sure everyone can see it.

The upshot of this is that every stock photo of a computer in an ad or on a website is going to be a MacBook, every all in one computer is going to be an iMac, every desktop computer will be a Mac mini or a Mac because that's the computer in front of the art department staff. Writers are going to either write about Apple, or reference Apple in every article because that's their bar.

Example: one of the ZDNet writers writing about a storage device basically suggested it was ok, but people should wait for Apple to make something better and even tried to make up a comparison that literally made no sense. Apple doesn't make external storage systems and has no plans to and there was NO reason to bring Apple into the article other than the writer's obsession with Apple.

If you go by movies and TV shows, Apple has 93% of the world market. (They don't...)

It's SO bad that even a company like Intel, who should know better, was scared by Apple's switch to ARM and has spend an amazing amount of time and effort trying to manage this when in reality, Apple is not a threat. Apple doesn't license their CPUs to anyone. No one can buy an M2 CPU and put it in their machines. Meanwhile Intel kind of missed their real competition - AMD and Qualcomm who have made significant strides in taking market share away from Intel.

And you have companies who want to piggyback on the Apple fanbase by creating expensive status products or products for 'creators' and only support iOS or macOS. You can spot them because they tend to unironically start their company name with a lower case 'i' (iHome... iHealth... etc). They tend to run out of customers and then eventually either vanish or grudgingly support Android and Windows. I worked for a maker of VERY expensive sport clothing in their internal software/IT department and noticed they only had an iOS app. I offered to port it over to Android but was told they didn't want that because (and I quote) "Android users aren't our target market... we tend to go for a more upscale group."

Anyway, Apple fans tend to be the living embodiment of P. T. Barnum's "There's a sucker born every minute."

[peanutnutter]

"HotFission, It's Old Thinking"

[robertclarkguitar]

So far...I was taken back by the audio here. The voice tone and clarity, speed and depth all impressed me. A musician most my life, audio is a great thing. Hahah. What id give to have the gear and knowledge to mix this good.

[charlescdt]

This is awesome. When you brought up G Glass, It reminded me of the Monocle the Apache pilots use with their helmets. I dont understand why G Glass didnt keep pushing it. That translation demo was beyond cool.

[xBINARYGODx]

Entirely not surprising given how they handle Apple vs Anyone Else in general.

Some will also turn around and do this with Google when not comparing something it does to Apple.

[FAT]

I do like ColdFusion videos because of the amount of info and research Dagogo made, but his take about Apple Vision Pro really doesn't impressed me at all. Just imagine the day when Apple finally dropped the ball for Vision Pro. I can't imagine people's reaction that keeps hyping for it.

[jakesyoutubezone]

As someone who has left skeptical comments about 400+ dollar 1080p 3dof face displays in the past, I'm glad I could help inspire this video.

[localblackman]

The first "killer app" will be the app that puts snapchat filters on peoples faces. Fantastic video as always and tough criticism of techtube is imperative!!

[BarryJohnson]

I normally watch the full video before commenting but this is simply brilliant.

[BrianGlaze]

To answer the question at the end, I think video editing apps can take headsets to the next level for consumers, especially social media content creators. Imagine if we market it correctly to these kids who recorded video and edit on their phone that they can get a full editing Bay like experience on their face without transporting that data to a computer or anything and I think it can be really really big.

[Benzo]

Reminds me of a bunch of horror/dark themed YouTube channels like "Nick Crowley" and titles like "Most disturbing moments found on the internet" with eerie music in the background 😂

[DrEarbuds]

Juan Bravo ! The tone of your voice is perfect . Keep this style of video coming

[jasonwiltjer]

Bro I legit had to check to make sure this was your video after hearing the first few seconds. I did not recognize your voice 😂

[RobertMcColman]

More great insight from one of the best. Well done, Juan. I'm actually waiting for my first AR product - from Rokid. I am really excited to venture into this space.

[videogamevegas]

Juan,

Great summation of the utter spin of Apple's sales and marketing machine. The Apple luster came completely off for me twice in my lifetime. Once when Apple made it clear that gaming wasn't their focus when it came to their foray in the computer market, and again when Samsung delivered the Galaxy S3 Smartphone, finally delivering an experience extremely close to the iPhone, but without all the unnecessary limitations of Apple devices, replacing a battery and expanding storage was only the beginning. And when it came to smartphones, companies took advantage of Apple and their "We know what's best for you and we'll only give you what we think you need" approach and went in the opposite direction, allowing each innovation to come out when it was available, no matter in what stage, and let people just simply have the tech. I remember when Apple FINALLY put widgets on their phone, and in pure Apple fashion, made it sound like a new innovation people could've only dreamed of, but Android, of course had been offering this feature for years (that's of course only one of many examples). And this is why Apple keeps getting relegated to number 2 in so many tech facets. One only has to look at the PC vs Apple computer race to see that deciding what's best for your consumer, instead of letting the consumer let you know what's best for them, is a bad idea, PC dominates over Mac. But there in lies the spin, which you so brilliantly discuss in this video. Apple relies on people to weave a narrative that doesn't accurately tell the real, or whole story in order to drive sales and promote with false hype.

And this is why I'm glad Apple didn't call their new "glasses" AR, because they obviously couldn't provide that svelte kind AR experience to outmatch their competitors already in that space with the small form factor. Comparing the Vision Pro to the AR concept would've been an embarrassment. So Apple utilized another buzz term, Spatial Computing, that those us with have a half a brain could see right through. From what Apple's shown with the Vision Pro, they've failed on two fronts. First, it looks like a VR headset, but really isn't a VR device from what I can tell. So then that leans heavily on the AR side, which it does, but ultimately fails, because it looks much bulkier than what we have now. I know I for one wouldn't want to wear it in public, on the street, or in the office, and as with any VR headset, I wouldn't want to wear it for any long period of time. And if early reports of neck strain by developers, and heft claims by tech enthusiasts and journalists at the Apple announcement event are any indication, I'd rather, for AR, use instead what's already in the market right now, functional and cheaper; the promise of actual glasses that can fit in my pocket.

So is there any reason to me for the Vision Pro? Yes. I can only speak for myself, my perspective, but for $3, 500, it's going to be a tough sell. If I was to ever fathom getting this headset it would be for one reason only, for the promise of the best of the best movie viewing experience within that medium. Just as some out there are enthusiasts for getting the best TV to watch movies on, the Vision Pro looks to provide that best experience in a VR environment. It comes down to, not only the specs of the hardware, but also in Apple's refined experience, making it appear the easiest, robust, and most seamless way to watch movies in that way. But again, if the comfort isn't there, why bother?

Thanks for shedding more light on the power of spun narrative. Those who really know the score can enjoy tech as it comes out and not wait for Apple to tell us what we should want.


vgv

[SeanKearney]

Thank you, Juan. 1, 000 times. Thank you. ❤

[josir]

Getting AR mainstreaming is harder now when most use cases can be fulfilled by operating your phone in a hand