Episode 517: The Decline of the Metaverse
The Wednesday Conversation
02 Apr 2025
21:15
In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg changed his company's name from Facebook to Meta. It signaled his decision to go "all in" on virtual reality and everything it promised. (We talked about it inEpisode 366: Meta Church.) But less than four years later, the meta-hype is collapsing, with every major VR company reporting losses and pulling back products. In this episode, we discuss what we can learn from the meteoric rise and decline of virtual reality... and how this tale can make us wiser in our approach to technology.
(0:00) Introductions and a Quick Trip into the Archives(2:56) Virtual Reality Gets a Reality Check(8:22) Humans Actually Like Embodied-ness(17:28) Knowing How Technology Shapes Us
Article:https://wng.org/articles/a-dose-of-reality-1738632435
In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg changed his company's name from Facebook to Meta. It signaled his decision to go "all in" on virtual reality and everything it promised. (We talked about it inEpisode 366: Meta Church.) But less than four years later, the meta-hype is collapsing, with every major VR company reporting losses and pulling back products. In this episode, we discuss what we can learn from the meteoric rise and decline of virtual reality... and how this tale can make us wiser in our approach to technology.
(0:00) Introductions and a Quick Trip into the Archives(2:56) Virtual Reality Gets a Reality Check(8:22) Humans Actually Like Embodied-ness(17:28) Knowing How Technology Shapes Us
Article:https://wng.org/articles/a-dose-of-reality-1738632435