The Race for Our Eyes
Following Mark Zuckerberg’s Connect 2025 keynote, online reactions to Ray-Ban Meta Display were surprisingly upbeat. Most gadget reviewers seemed to say just enough in their initial impressions videos and articles to cover their bases if the glasses turn out to be popular. More importantly, reactions on social media suggested that smart glasses similar to what Meta announced are the future.
The idea of wearing a computer on our face is not new. Google Glass went on sale in April 2014 although the company never took distribution seriously, not that different from how Pixel faired. We won’t spend too much time writing Google Glass’s obituary other than to say it was a product meant for a world in which design doesn’t matter. Around this same time, Facebook acquired Oculus, which kicked off a decade of Facebook grabbing some goodwill among gamers and VR enthusiasts. Magic Leap was the leader among a handful of HW startups, at least when it came to capturing the hearts and minds of journalists and VCs.
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Why Tech Feels Tired
We still have two months to go in 2023. A lot can and will likely happen. However, we are already able to point to a few broad tech themes that have come to define the year.
Imagination has escaped the paid video space as companies shift their efforts to improve user monetization. Password sharing crackdowns, ad tiers, and price increases have been leading the industry’s new cycle. Consumers have become somewhat downbeat of what seems like retrogression to traditional cable bundle dynamics on a few fronts in paid streaming.
Generative AI certainly captured this year’s tech hype cycle but most of the consumer-oriented early examples involving the technology fall short on the excitement and intrigue fronts.
EVs remain a very complicated industry with plenty of questions regarding just how much progress is being made.
The consumer gadget recession rages on and has contributed to a wave of HW executive turnover and changing hardware strategies.
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The Spatial Battle for Our Home
Earlier this week, Apple unveiled Vision Pro, it’s first headset. After I spent 30 minutes using the headset at Apple Park, it was clear that the technology powering Vision Pro is going to change the world. Entire industries will implode while new ones will be born. Spatial computing headsets will not be a novelty toy only found in tech circles. Instead, we are going to see the headsets usher in new competitive battles in our homes, offices, and on the road.
Thinking of tech’s progress via battles for our spaces (home, office, car) is appropriate. Doing so reflects how companies are competing for our attention and workflows. Given a finite amount of time each day, there are only so many devices and services that can earn a place in our lives. While some devices may be swapped out over time with new services mixing in with old ones, the battle lines are formed around value propositions and the degree to which problems are addressed.
In the home, we have seen premature tech winners crowned.
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Payment is processed and secured by Stripe. Apple Pay and other mobile payment options are accepted. Special bundle pricing is available for Above Avalon members.
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Receive Exclusive Essays. The cornerstone of an Inside Orchard subscription is access to Neil’s weekly essays on the latest developments in the technology industry. Weekly essays are 1,000 words and sent via email on Tuesdays. Essays revolve around the following topics: technology industry analysis, business model analysis, technology’s impact on societal and consumer trends. A sample essay can be viewed here.
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