Konstantinos Komaitis
I have seen zero data on the presumed interest or need for #Metaverse for users! Yet, some governments (the EU) intergovernmental institutions (ITU) and companies (#telcos, #Meta) want us to believe this is the next big thing. Also, can any one of them, please define Metaverse?
Jan 24, 2023 at 6:49amWeb
Show threadMiro CollasJan 24, 2023

@kkomaitis Uhm, metaverses have existed for nearly 20 years (eg #SecondLife) - so presumably you're referring to Meta's implementation of one.

Ref https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaverse#Implementations

Correction: more than 20 years.

Metaverse - Wikipedia

Show threadWarren TerraJan 24, 2023
@Miro_Collas @kkomaitis
Sure, but Zuckerberg seems bizarrely convinced it's a trillion dollar idea, and somehow novel or at least newly possible, and some entities are spending real money to join his version of it. Even though no-one can explain why this is more than a niche hobby akin to Second Life.
Show threadKonstantinos KomaitisJan 24, 2023
@warren__terra @Miro_Collas a lot of people spent money and energy on NFTs and cryptocurrencies and that bubble burst faster than they thought….
Show threadMiro CollasJan 24, 2023
@warren__terra
Exactly right, yes. My second reply to @kkomaitis had this link which I think is relevant:
https://doctorow.medium.com/metaverse-means-pivot-to-video-adbe09319038
In short, snake oil. Zuck is very skilled at convincing people to throw money away.
“Metaverse” means “pivot to video” - Cory Doctorow - Medium

In 2003, a 19-year-old Harvard undergrad named Mark Zuckerberg had an idea: he’d create a website for Harvard students to nonconsensually rate the fuckability of their classmates. He called it…

Medium
Show threadMiro CollasJan 24, 2023
@kkomaitis Btw, this article is probably at least part of an answer to your question, I think.
https://doctorow.medium.com/metaverse-means-pivot-to-video-adbe09319038
“Metaverse” means “pivot to video” - Cory Doctorow - Medium

In 2003, a 19-year-old Harvard undergrad named Mark Zuckerberg had an idea: he’d create a website for Harvard students to nonconsensually rate the fuckability of their classmates. He called it…

Medium
Show threadthe grugqJan 24, 2023
@kkomaitis I like the definition I saw the other day: the metaverse is online games. Any online game from the last 20 years is a metaverse. Roblox is the biggest one right now.
Show threadJamie ClarkJan 24, 2023
@thegrugq @kkomaitis 👍
Show threadJeff MossJan 24, 2023
@thegrugq @kkomaitis From a brand perspective any MMPORG that has in service economy is ripe for partnerships. BMW could create a digital good and sell it inside the existing world, share % with the platform for a win/win. No need to wait on Meta to brand build.
Show threadhappyborgJan 24, 2023
@thegrugq @kkomaitis Ah, remember MUD in the eighties?
Show threadthe grugqJan 24, 2023

@happyborg @kkomaitis no. Before my time. But I think that’s what the snow crash metaverse was based on. Generally the main thing that ppl seem to be excited by is having a visual 3D environment shared with other people you interact with.

Without the visual element you could probably push it back to the first multi user systems. Things like ‘write’ to send messages to someone else’s terminal.

Show threadhappyborgJan 24, 2023

@thegrugq @kkomaitis I'd set the bar as some shared environment created in the computer in which each person experiences their own perspective of a greater whole. I don't think write makes the cut as the shared 'space' is outside.

MUD = Multi User Dungeon is the first I recall ...barely. I think Moria came soon after which I remember slightly better but I played rogue more (single user). All played using text terminals.

Much later.. Doom death match mode was 👌

Show threadthe grugqJan 24, 2023

@happyborg @kkomaitis that’s a reasonable definition, but I think the visual element is what gets the public excited.

I know MUDs but I was never interested. I spent my time on IRC.

There’s a paper / blog post I read.. decade or more ago, which was by a guy who ran a MUD. I think. It was about how communities grow and what people look for in games. Things like “freedom of speech” is easy as a principle when you have a small community, but when the assholes show up things have to change. And this is always gonna be one of the defining points in the community culture. Do you eject the asshole, or let them stay and lose some number of other people.

It was fascinating because it predicted basically all the stuff that happened with reddit and Facebook and I guess Elon at twitter.

I can’t find it anymore. Frustrates me.

Anyway, I’m going to say there’s a non zero chance that some weird BSD system in the 70s had some primitive type of MUD system… or some other random box at a University somewhere. But we’ll probably never know :)

Show threadhappyborgJan 24, 2023

@thegrugq @kkomaitis Those Egyptian tombs might be worth a look and I'll bet the Sumerians had Tetris.

PS I've no idea if I actually mean the Sumerians but 🤷‍♂️

Show threadCiack404 Jan 24, 2023
@kkomaitis Exactly what I was discussing with a coworker. I don't think there's even a universal agreement on the definition of Metaverse at the moment.
Show threadCarol McKay (she / her)Jan 24, 2023
@kkomaitis there can be only one answer and that is immersed experience advertising $money$ … who benefits?
Show threadMike ParsonsJan 24, 2023
@kkomaitis The Metaverse is Second Life, only if it were invented by the guy who gave us the Facebook privacy settings menu.
Show threadFuturist Jim CarrollJan 24, 2023

@kkomaitis

Immersive (headset) VR is kind of dumb. Tech drive super-hype.

Non-immersive AR has massive potential - digital twins, AR and data come together for real-world insight.

I covered this in trend #17 of my '23 Trends for 2023' series.

https://jimcarroll.com/2023/01/23-trends-for-2023-17-non-immersive-vr-and-ar/

23 Trends for 2023 : #17 Non-immersive VR and AR - Futurist Keynote Speaker Jim Carroll: Disruptive Trend & Innovation Expert

Part of the art of figuring out the future is knowing this – you’ll often find the real trend by looking beyond the hype to what’s actually happening! The hype? Virtual headset virtual reality, best epitomized by the bold but somewhat doomed bet by Mark Zuckerberg with his Meta initiative. The reality? The return of […]

Futurist, Trends Innovation Expert & Keynote Speaker Jim Carroll - Creativity Innovation Trends Expert
Show threadRunning With SpoonsJan 24, 2023
@kkomaitis seems a lot like 3D televisions. Industry found a new technology they really want us to buy, but it doesn't make our lives better so nobody wants it
Show threadM̸̧̠͎͉̹̼̠͔̗̓̐̐̓̓̀͝͝ ar I̸̓̐̐̓͝Jan 24, 2023
@kkomaitis Honestly, don't know, but I've been using these names in my comics since 2006. Copyrighted too, especially those characters Meta... Mega..., the bad guys. I haven't made a penny, but I re-opened site this week. Am I in trouble? comic-strip.org (I never get used to being [] sorry)
Show threadDavid ThomsonJan 25, 2023

@kkomaitis @mmasnick I think at some point telepresence conferencing, shopping and socialising will be useful, but we’re a long way from that now, and who knows what it’ll look like.

Keep pressing and the only definition is “Read Snowcrash.” But I think that’s likely to be like someone in 1970 saying read 2001 if you want to know what space travel will look like in 2001.