Welcome to our Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in one handy roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, but it’s cool if you want to read it during lunch or dinner hours as well.
glass half full
Google Glass is a failure. It’s not exactly news, but it’s now official: the company finally discontinued the retail version of the product this week, which itself replaced the deeply unpopular consumer devices whose wearers were mocked and occasional physical abuse, and coined the term “Glass Hole.” An inglorious story has come to an end, and it’s not too soon.
Again, the timing is remarkable and a bit surprising as it’s only a few months before Apple makes its own debut into the world of face-mounted computing with a mixed reality headset. (Skeptics may point out that we’ve been waiting for the helmet for years and insist that they’ll believe it when they see it, but the chorus of leaks and rumors is getting deafening.) That suggests one of these two giants technology has completely misread the market: Google thinks it’s the right time to get out of augmented reality – or its own loose approximation, as I’ll explain in a moment – and Apple thinks it’s the right time time to enter. They can’t both be right.
Google’s negative experiences in this area can be salutary for Apple, for whom this will be an extremely important launch with the potential to usher in a far-reaching ecosystem that will one day rival the success of the iPhone, or tarnish it forever. the legacy of Tim Cook. Apple needs to look at Google’s mistakes and the hurdles it couldn’t overcome, and find a different path…or just hope the market has changed enough that the same methods are now more effective. This is where the importance of timing comes in.
The biggest problem facing both companies, Google then and Apple now, is the difference between a face-mounted device and the tech products we spend most of our time using. The introduction of tablets and smartwatches essentially replicated the smartphone experience on a larger or smaller screen and did not require a paradigm shift in the user’s relationship with the device. It was always a shiny little rectangle hidden somewhere around your person that you pulled out and looked at when you needed to pay attention. But a pair of smart glasses or especially a mixed reality headset requires a relationship with technology, and with the world around you, that is unparalleled in most users’ lives.
Google Glass was an “in your face” thing in more ways than one, and managed to make its users look like hipster showoffs, crazed futurists, and Orwellian informants all at once. And it was a relatively low-profile product th at at least somewhat mimicked the look of a regular pair of glasses. How much more annoying will passersby find a mixed reality device that covers your eyes and much of your head? How long will it be before a Reality One user laughs openly?
The hope here is that the world has moved on, and Google Glass was seen as particularly provocative because it was ostensibly new. Apple can benefit in this regard from Google’s selfless work to get the world used to smart glasses, which no longer seem as modern as they did in 2013. Also, when a product’s user base reaches critical mass, it doesn’t looks weirder. Apple hopes to standardize its headset through a combination of sales and marketing savvy. A lot of people thought “iPad” was a hilarious brand name until all of their friends suddenly owned one.
The key here, and the way to avoid Google’s mistakes, will be to both deliver the benefits of AR and let the public know what those benefits are. Because, as my colleague Jason Cross points out, Google Glass was not an AR product at all. Rather, it was a fancy heads-up display with no ability to interact with real-world objects. And so its users accepted the public shame of wearing an AR device without seeing the benefits of such a product. It was just pain – literally, in some cases – and no gain. It may not be a coincidence that Microsoft’s HoloLens, which is truly an AR device, is still just as powerful, or at least still is.
Apple won’t, I suspect, be happy with a niche role in the enterprise sector like the one carved out by HoloLens, or in medical or educational settings, but that still leaves us without a clear understanding of what the app will be. general public of Reality One. . Bearing in mind that it will also offer VR functionality, one possibility is home gaming, but there remains the suspicion that Apple doesn’t really understand the gaming market, and that VR gamers will have options though. better and probably cheaper elsewhere. It could also give Apple its way into the metaverse, as nauseating as that word is to even type.
But the most promising point is this: thanks to its many talented app developers, Apple doesn’t necessarily have to decide what the product is for. Just put the material out there and see where the community takes it. Perhaps it will be used primarily for gaming, perhaps social or educational, or perhaps users will completely abandon the outside world and take refuge in an imaginary universe free from poverty and hatred. If you build it – and build it right – they will come.
However, it’s probably worth making sure the product name doesn’t lend itself to an obvious insult.
Foundry
Reviews (and Previews) Corner
Our review of the iPhone 14 Plus (in yellow) finds a great phone at a not so expensive price.
Apples first 3nm chip looks like a big step up from the A16. Find out more in our A17 preview.
Trending: Top Stories
We’re rounding up four iPhone 15 upgrades that will make you want one now.
Yes, Apple will enlarged ‘fake’ photos on the iPhone 15 too, but how far will it go?
There’s a new reality distortion field because Tim Cook is condemned, estimates the Macalope.
The key to Mac survival isn’t a new Air, it’s the next iPad Pro.
Microsoft Word for Mac is about to get two huge shortcuts that we’ve wanted for years.
A political change could give Apple a reprieve in the US antitrust push.
Apple cut hiring and bonuses as incomes fall, but avoid layoffs.
The rumor mill
Tim Cook canceled the AR/VR Headset the design team’s objections to a 2023 launch, according to a new report.
Apple is believed to be testing a new generation ‘Bobcat’ language generation for Siri.
THE iPhone 15 Pro could start at over $1,000, in the Pro line’s first-ever price hike.
The iPhone 15 Ultra, meanwhile, will “break the record” of the thinnest glasses.
Apple is working to turn AirPods into a “health tool” for increase hearing.
Podcast of the week
The third and possibly the final season of Ted Lasso is here, so we thought now would be a good time to let us know our thoughts on Apple TV+. Is Apple doing enough to keep up with the competition? It’s in this episode of the igamesnews podcast!
You can watch every igamesnews podcast episode on Spotify, Soundcloud, Podcasts app or our own site.
Software updates, bugs and issues
iOS 16.4 beta 4 has arrived, bringing new emoji and several improvements.
More: macOS Ventura 13.3 beta 4 is now also available.
And with that, we’re done for this week. If you want to receive regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us on Twitter or on Facebook to discuss the latest news from Apple. See you next Saturday, enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay Appley.
Table of Contents
