New World Notes

New Essay: I Tell VentureBeat What Went Wrong with "The Metaverse"

What went wrong with ‘the Metaverse’? An insider’s postmortem is a new guest essay I wrote for VentureBeat, and I hope you consider reading and sharing on social media! The quotes around "the Metaverse" are intentional, because I'm talking about the straw man version most people in tech have been toying with recently, not the actual execution. Opener:

It’s now two years since Facebook changed its name to Meta, ushering in a brief but blazing enthusiasm over “the Metaverse”, a concept from science fiction that suddenly seemed to be the next inevitable leap in technology. For most people in tech, however, the term has since lost its luster, seemingly supplanted by any product with “artificial intelligence” attached to its description. 

But the true story of the Metaverse’s rise and fall in public awareness is much more complicated and interesting than simply being the short life cycle of a buzzword — it also reflects a collective failure of both imagination and understanding.  

One point I haven't discussed in awhile goes to what I believe is a gender bias that's cost the industry -- and Meta in particular -- tens of billions of dollars:

 

Cyber Monday Special: Get Making a Metaverse That Matters, Get My Autograph Plate and/or Social Media Shout-Out!

Cyber Monday special for the immersion fan in your life: I'm giving away my autograph plate to anyone who buys a copy of Making a Metaverse That Matters. I'll even write a special (short!) dedication message to you or a special someone.

Here's how to get it!

1. Get a copy of the book (if you haven't already) here:

• AMAZON
• BARNES & NOBLE
• BOOKSHOP (benefits indie stores)

2. Contact me on social media 0r e-mail me your mailing address. (Info below.) 

3. Be sure to include any special dedication/message you want.

Allow 2-4 weeks for receipt, especially outside the US!

And if you're getting a Kindle/e-book or the audiobook verision on Audible or Audibooks.com, I can still send a digital "signature"-- here's how:

Get My Autograph Plate for Making a Metaverse That Matters -- Here's How!

Just in time for holiday shopping, I'm giving away my autograph plate to anyone who buys a copy of Making a Metaverse That Matters. I'll even write a special (short!) dedication message to you or a special someone.

Here's how to get it!

1. Get a copy of the book (if you haven't already) here:

• AMAZON
• BARNES & NOBLE
• BOOKSHOP (benefits indie stores)

2. Contact me on social media 0r e-mail me your mailing address. (Info below.) 

3. Be sure to include any special dedication/message you want.

Allow 2-4 weeks for receipt, especially outside the US!

Here's my contact info:

Philip Rosedale Added as GamesBeat Next Speaker! Get The 40% Discount Code, Join Him, Cory Ondrejka, Raph Koster & Me There!

Just got word that Philip has been added as a keynote speaker to GamesBeat Next in San Francisco next week Monday and Tuesday (October 23-24) -- use this discount code for 40% off at sign-up: GBN23SPEAKER

That's on top of me moderating a panel with Second Life co-founder/Google VP Cory Ondrejka; as I discuss in the book, Cory later went on to become a top VP at Facebook, where he led the acquisition of Oculus VR. We're joined by MMO game god Raph Koster, who's furiously and secretly at work creating his next platform, Playable Worlds.  

Here's the title/description of our talk:

That's on top of me moderating a panel with Second Life co-founder/Google VP Cory Ondrejka; as I discuss in the book, Cory later went on to become a top VP at Facebook, where he led the acquisition of Oculus VR. We're joined by MMO game god Raph Koster, who's furiously and secretly at work creating his next platform, Playable Worlds.  

Here's the title/description of our talk:

Get a 40% Discount Code for GamesBeat Next, Where I'm Talking Practical Steps to Make the Metaverse With Raph Koster & Cory Ondrejka

If you're interested in attending GamesBeat Next in San Francisco this month (October 23-24 to be exact), use this discount code for 40% off at sign-up:  GBN23SPEAKER

As that suggests, yes, I'm moderating a panel with Second Life co-founder/Google VP Cory Ondrejka and MMO game god Raph Koster, who's furiously and secretly at work creating his next platform, Playable Worlds.

Here's the tentative title/description:

Watch: Talking Today About Making a Metaverse That Matters With the Virtual Worlds Education Consortium!

Starting today at 1pm PT/SLT I'll be chatting with the lovely folks of the Virtual Worlds Education Consortium about Making a Metaverse That Matters in the OG metaverse platform of Second Life. If you want to join us in-world, click here to teleport -- or watch the live YouTube stream above.

Hosted by longtime virtual world educator Valerie Hill, it should be a meaty, expert level conversation with people who've been doing This Metaverse Thing for years if not decades.

Ask Me Anything About "Making a Metaverse That Matters" on Inkwell!

Click here to participate in a Q&A about Making a Metaverse That Matters on Inkwell, the public conference on books for The WELL, the legendary online community forum. (Starting now and for the next two weeks.)  It's viewable to everyone online, but if you want to pose questions and aren't a WELL member, you can still e-mail them to inkwell at well dot com.

We're already jamming along, here's some favorite thoughts so far:

The Problem With Meta's Approach to Avatars in Horizon Worlds -- Excerpt, Making a Metaverse That Matters

With news that Meta's Horizon Worlds metaverse platform is finally coming to mobile in the run-up to next month's Meta Connect developer conference, here's an excerpt from Making a Metaverse That Matters on the fundamental mistakes Meta is still making in its approach to avatars -- including insights from Second Life co-founder Cory Ondrejka, who went on to become a top VP at Facebook, led the company's acquisition of Oculus VR -- but has serious misgivings about Meta's “infantilized human avatars”, as he calls them:

Listen: Pondering the Potential of The Metaverse for Dystopian Purposes

Here's an interview about Making a Metaverse That Matters on the Plutopia News Network, hosted by Internet OG Jon Lebkowsky with fellow OGs Wendy Grossman and Scoop Sweeney. Watch above, though please disregard my disheveled look -- I realized only at the very last moment that this was an on-camera interview!

One spicy topic we get into that other interviews about the book haven't yet brought up, starting at around 43 minutes in:

The desire by many technologists to turn the Metaverse into a dystopian pacifier for the poor of the world. While little discussed (it's only one of many dystopian possibilities, and not the most likely), I do think it's worth knowing how many serious and/or successful technologists really do think a VR-powered metaverse could ever be satisfying escape from real misery. 

Excerpt from the book: 

I Ask Neal Stephenson About His Own Metaverse Definition, the Much-Delayed Snow Crash Movie/TV Adaptation, and How The Metaverse Is Already Larger Than He First Imagined

In case you missed it, FastCompany recently featured an excerpt based on my extensive interview with Neal Stephenson for the book. Highlights include his own definition of the Metaverse, reports that he looked into building it back in the 1990s right after Snow Crash was published, and that 1992 novel's long-delayed Hollywood adaptation. Marco Brambilla, director of the not horrible Stallone/Snipes 90s sci-fi movie Demolition Man, was attached to direct it as far back as 1996; the project's since changed Hollywood hands for now nearly 30 years.

So we talk about that, and I get to point out how the Metaverse concept is actually larger in real life than what he first imagined -- which elicits a classic taciturn Stephenson reply: