as seen on tv
Senator
Not Shown - the Apple Vision Pro virtual reality headset, which might let you pretend you're shooting a space alien.
Apple Shares Close at Record in Latest Sign of Big Tech’s Dominance (yahoo.com)
Apple stock hit $190 yesterday – 3 times higher than a couple of years ago (see link above). Either this is the best of times, or it's the worst of times.
Full disclosure – I don't think that I own any Apple products. My smartphone is a 3-year-old Samsung. My laptop is an HP. My television is LG. I don't hate Apple – but I find that I get similar features and functionality at a lower price with brand X, Y, or Z.
Take the new Apple Vision Pro Mixed Reality Headset (that's a mouthful, isn't it?) Despite some initial confusion in the press, I can confirm that the retail price actually IS an astonishing $3,499. Not thirty four dollars and ninety nine cents, as initially reported. But who can blame the press for this mistake? It seems inconceivable that anyone would pay more than a Laptop AND a smartphone combined for this headset. A device that - when all is said and done – simply blocks us from seeing the real world. Maybe I'm supposed to put it on as I drive by one of those mile long homeless encampments, or the neo-Nazi demonstration today at the gates of Disneyworld? I dunno . . . I could just use one of those dollar store sleep masks for that. I think Biden has one of those for his afternoon naps.
A gamer friend of mine (30 year old man child) is over the moon about Apple's $3,500 headset. Of course, he was over the moon about the Google Glass a few years ago too. I was polite and didn't ask if – in hindsight – he was relieved that he couldn't afford THOSE either.
Gamer boy tells me the Apple Vision Pro headset is “more than just games”. At that price it better be. He says it can be used to help develop games. But he's also not a game developer, so what? The headset probably has some overlap with the Google's virtual reality metaverse. Instead of interacting with avatars, or going to Zoom meetings on your laptop, you can strap on the Apple headset. If your company isn't insisting that you to return to the office. If you wear that thing in your cube, they're probably going to send you to HR for a conversation. If it happens again, you get a pink slip?
People have lost fortunes betting against Apple of course. And tech guys have lost years devoting themselves to missteps like the Apple Car, the Newton . . . the Apple “Lisa” computer. And don't even ask about the Apple videogame console that was supposed to crush PlayStation and Xbox. If you still have one of the Apple Pippin consoles in the shrink wrap, you can probably score some serious money from nerd collectors though.
Compared to our $32 Trillion national debt - $300,000 for each American family – the Apple Vision Pro headset doesn't seem insane, does it? Surely boosting your personal debt by a few thousand to own this headset can be justified. Just charge it to your Apple (MasterCard or Visa) credit card.
I don't hate Apple. I'm just skeptical. There's a word that applies here - “ubiquity”. If a company is trying to be everything to everyone, and cover the earth with product and brand extensions, I take a step back. I'm inherently suspicious about cars made by appliance companies, banks concocted out of thin air by automakers, and apartments owned and managed by the municipal government.
People are facing real problems with home prices, no savings in the bank, and we're now beginning to enter the early curve for evictions and car repos. The US economy is screwed up enough without me dropping thousands on fancy 3D sunglasses. Would some 2024 presidential candidates please start talking about housing, taxes and inflation? If you don't, then normal people probably WILL be tempted to tune out the election with a virtual reality headset. Only the zealots will bother to vote.
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