Metaverse is here? Where? 👀

For all those who know me -not many but stay with me here- they know that I am a tech futuristic dreamer, which is a very glamorous way of saying that I love tech and I am constantly interested and have my own views on what the future holds, also I’m kind of a nerd.

I like to talk about tech, I’m passionate about it, I like to poke people’s interests and challenge on how technology can help and truly enrich people’s lives making it more efficient and productive, fintech, healthtech, edutech, you-name-it-tech! But those same people also know that well… I’m not a big fan of hypes. Don’t get me wrong, I am interested in being updated on trends, just not “adopting” premature hypes.

Now that I have opened a window onto my ever complicated and complex psyche -don’t take the latter phrase seriously- allow me to explain this week’s rant, topic! This week’s topic!

The Metaverse.

Some ground rules, I like the metaverse, it’s intriguing, it’s very interesting, it will eventually become a multi-trillion dollar industry for sure. Normal people, experts, brands, governments, banks, hospitals, retail, schools, real estate, and every single person & industry on the internet will eventually be a part of it in one way or the other, but:

Do you really see yourself walking around a cartoonish poorly made 3D user interface with a huge headset on your head tomorrow? Can you imagine your dad or granddad or spouse or sibling doing it during the next holiday family gathering?

Do you really see yourself spending money to buy metaversical clothes, otherwise known as character skins for online games, ever?

Do you really see yourself completely blocking out physical interaction with humanity and just going -on the metaverse- to birthdays, family gatherings, or vacations and still being equally fulfilled and jolly as if you were there physically?

I am sure that most of you answered no to the above, which are only three out of twelve questions I could think of, but I promised readers that Bulbs will be short and swift.

Now, two more questions.

When were you first made aware of the internet? Were you or your parents first subscribed to an internet service at home? Take a moment and think of a year. Do you know that the internet was invented in 1983 and the first domain was registered in 1985? (It’s symbolics.com by the way).

Calling all boomers and millennials out there, when did you create your first email address? Again, try to think of a year. Do you know that electronic mailing was first invented and the first email was first ever sent in 1971?

If it wasn’t for the Bitcoin rally in the first quarter of 2021, how many people do you know would have even thought of getting into crypto? Well, Bitcoin has been around since 2009! That’s twelve years apart.

Even the metaverse is arguably and theoretically more than 180 years old. It all started back in 1838 when scientist Sir Charles Wheatstone outlined the concept of "binocular vision," where you combine two images — one for each eye — to make a single 3D image. The “metaverse” conceptual word itself was coined in 1992 by author Neal Stephenson in his science fiction novel "Snow Crash," in which he envisioned lifelike avatars who met in realistic 3D buildings and other virtual reality environments.

Fast forward to 2003, “Second Life”, a three-dimensional virtual world where users can pretend to be whomever — or whatever — they want to be. Players or users in Second Life are referred to as residents, they can build and purchase property, go retail shopping, attend concerts, events, and conferences, or just hang out with friends. I remembering having my first Big Mac in Second Life sometime around June 2007.

For those with preteen and teen children, they must have come across Roblox few times a week. During the 2020 pandemic, it became a significant source of interaction for young people, and it became the third-highest-grossing game that year. But did you know that Roblox was actually launched in 2006?

You see where I am getting with this.

Second Life & Roblox are not early attempts at the Metaverse, they are the metaverse, each in its own way and required tech. What annoys me the most is the hype, the abuse of people’s interest, potential lack of knowledge and high intrigue, to sound cool or increase bottom lines. I watched a video from a reputable consulting company saying that the metaverse is here? Really? Here? Where? Surely the hype is here, and has overstayed its visitation if you ask me, but to tell me that the metaverse is here? Even Mark Zuckerberg told shareholders that creating the metaverse will bleed money for three to five years and some products wouldn't be ready for 15 years.

I love technology, I embrace technology, I salute every giant company and startup now spending time, money, expertise, and research on supporting to develop, be a part of, or just work on the metaverse. But I believe for the metaverse to succeed, it should be a part of life, a way of life, integrated with our daily routine. No one gets excited for a Facetime video call, the camera phone app, or streaming a movie from the comfort of one’s home. Same goes for the metaverse. It would and should be integrated seamlessly in our daily lives, as easy as it is asking Siri to turn off the lights, but that can only happen once the technology is here to support the growth and scale.

For sure the metaverse will be a next big thing. Many companies and governments are betting on it, and when the time comes thousands and millions of people will self-onboard, most us nerds already own property there -I’ll send you the address to my Decentraland pixel if you message me. But what is also certain, is that everyone is still currently in the experimentation phase, incubating what will result as the metaverses we will travel, play, learn, and work in, but what is also sure is that humankind likes hypes and headlines, they sell!