Hardware & Technical Facebook buys OculusVR

[Philip Coutts]

Excellent post Jabokai.

Agree. The hysteria that has greeted this announcement is over the top even for the internet. Someone on the Limit Theory board wrote a post asking LT to cancel it's support for the OR and then later said they had changed their mind. The knee jerk reaction to this is amazing, I'm no great fan of facebook but at the same time I don't think they are the route of all evil.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Another thought which occurs there - DK2 will be cancelled and those who have already bought one will either be given refunds or CV1 when it ships 3 months after DK2 was meant to.

If this happens I would be happy with that. I would actually like a timeline for CV1. all bets are off now imo, and DK2 may really not be worth it now (which to be fair is what P Lucky said from the getgo!!!)

 

[PacalB]

What are you talking about? I was excited when I heard the news of the sale. Lower prices, faster release dates, better implementation. The consumer wins!

I am not saying that I'm going to buy the OR. Whichever one I think is best at the time.

Do you have amnesia? You were just spouting on about why you hate Facebook. That's negativity kiddo.

You know, if you look at what Facebook are about and were honest you'd see why people are upset with this company. A few examples would be;

Facebook's Terms Of Service are completely one-sided.
Facebook's CEO has a documented history of unethical behaviour.
Facebook takes your private data and shares it with applications.
Facebook makes it incredibly difficult to truly delete your account.
Facebook doesn't (really) support the Open Web.

The so-called Open Graph API is named so as to disguise its fundamentally closed nature. It's bad enough that the idea is we all pitch in and make it easier than ever to help Facebook collect more data about us. It's bad enough that most consumers will have no idea that this data is basically public. It's bad enough that they claim to own this data and are aiming to be the one source for accessing it. But then they are disingenuous enough to call it "open," when, in fact, it is completely proprietary to Facebook. You can't use this feature unless you're on Facebook!

These are just a few points, which go on and on and on. Now, if you think a company based on such negativity is a good thing for this Oculus buy out well ... what to say?

Lastly, that "consumer wins" part at the beginning, that sounds very much like the line pushed out by the big energy companies over here in the UK. There's no consumer wins, just smoke and mirrors whilst slight of hand takes your money. That's not a good thing.

 

[Mephane]

Yeah, but judging from multiple delays, OR openly struggled to deliver consumer version, wasn't it?

Unless I am mistaken, that was not due to financial reasons, so I don't see how Facebook could help here. Simply hiring more people with the money won't magically enable them to ship earlier (to the contrary, adding people to a late project can delay it even further).

 

[Majere]

If you want to know what kind of information Facebook hold on you, check here:

Also contains information on how to get a copy of your record if you are outisde of US and Canada.

http://europe-v-facebook.org/EN/Data_Pool/data_pool.html

 

[Tony Spaniels]

Lastly, that "consumer wins" part at the beginning, that sounds very much like the line pushed out by the big energy companies over here in the UK. There's no consumer wins, just smoke and mirrors whilst slight of hand takes your money. That's not a good thing.

I can see you're upset dude and why, but Im sorry I just dont share your antipathy. I guess you'll be going for the alternatives now though right? Im sure there'll be something out soon from another big player that will be more palatable to your tastes.

VR as an industry will soon be upon us!

 

[Neo-ST]

Thanks for the link.
It says to send formal request to FB on address in Ireland, but I'm from Croatia, should I send to that address anyway ?

 

[Majere]

Yes you can, it is their base in the EU. Along with a few others, although Google I think claim that they don't actually process anything outside the US.

Every user with a residence outside of the US and Canada has a contract with “Facebook Ireland Limited”, based in Dublin, Ireland and has a right to access therefore.

 

[Bikky]

Click

to enter docking station.

 

[Boomotang]

Ref Google and Maps - there is a synergy of sorts - you search for stuff in a Google - including actual places - and the location of these places is best represented on a map!

Yes, but the technology behind making a search engine and making a maps application/website is unrelated. The only thing that crosses over is the search function.

I could see a "synergy of sorts" between FB and VR too. Imagine an app like The Sims, or Second Life with VR support that's connected directly to Facebook. Just because MOST of the ways you can use VR have nothing to do with FB, it doesn't mean that there are NO ways where they are related. And the FB sale does not mean that they'll scrap all of OR's other uses in favour of the few that are related. It would be shooting themselves in the foot, denying themselves that kind of revenue.

 

[Juniper]

Yes, but the technology behind making a search engine and making a maps application/website is unrelated. The only thing that crosses over is the search function.

Small point, but from a user experience point of view you are correct - however from a back-end "big data" storage point of view they are almost identical. Especially when you understand a little about how Google indexes the web and stores / retrieves these indexes in the form of search results. The spatial data of a map at different levels is surprisingly similar.

 

[psykokow]

IF google bought Oculus there would be a merging of tech of somesorts with google glass..

The thing about facebook is they haven't got related hardware do they?
So this is there movement into that market, and could really be a good thing for Oculus... they can have tighter margins, develop their own content specifically for it.. Imagine it..

Heres a picture of my dinner, becomes... look around my dinner plate.. climb under the bacon... swim in my beans ..

Also we don't know the agreement between oculus and Facebook for the sale.. who remains in control etc etc.. so I am actually quite excited by it which I didn't think i would be..

Still don't like pre-orders being taken so close to the sale... though the successful pre-order may be the reason for such a good price!

Right sorry if these points have been made already..

 

[Boomotang]

You know, if you look at what Facebook are about and were honest you'd see why people are upset with this company. A few examples would be;

Facebook's Terms Of Service are completely one-sided.
Facebook's CEO has a documented history of unethical behaviour.
Facebook takes your private data and shares it with applications.
Facebook makes it incredibly difficult to truly delete your account.
Facebook doesn't (really) support the Open Web.

I know why people are upset with FB. I just don't agree with them. Too much blame going to the company who provides the service, and not enough care towards each person's responsibility for what they put out there themselves.

You are free to email or mail pictures to your friends and family, or talk to them in person. Facebook can be great for keeping connected to people who you don't see very often. But you aren't obliged to give more information than you want out on the internet. I think people just don't realize that what they hate is the way most people use FB, and they turn the blame to the creators of the system. It's like blaming food companies for making you fat. It's not their fault if you have no self control with how you use their product.

The problem here, is people are assuming that the FB TOS are going to expand to the OR the same as they are now. I don't see how that's even possible. They're two different types of products. You don't give a VR headset any information. It displays information for you. If they put some sort of spyware that searches your PC for information then that would be an issue obviously. But even if they were that unethical, it would be incredibly stupid on their part with how risky that would be to their business in the event they were caught. I don't see it happening.

 

[KickahasTier]

Also we don't know the agreement between oculus and Facebook for the sale.. who remains in control etc etc..

I think we can safely assume that Facebook is now in control. But I'm guessing they will be clever enough to let the OR people, John Carmack for example just get on with it.

 

[Vhaegrant]

Just thought I'd share this...

Ctrl+Alt+Del - Facespace (2014-03-28)

 

[KickahasTier]

Facebook's Terms Of Service are completely one-sided.

Are they not Facebook TOS?, what else would you expect?

Facebook's CEO has a documented history of unethical behaviour.

Yeah, they should put him in prison.

Facebook takes your private data and shares it with applications.

If you have shared data with Facebook(A public social media service), how is it in any way private?

Facebook makes it incredibly difficult to truly delete your account.

Is that really true? Or do they just do a good job of not losing 'your' data?

Facebook doesn't (really) support the Open Web.

The what now? That's a nice idealistic concept. What Facebook has done is provide a generic homogeneous interface to a personal profile and enabled billions of people to interact and communicate. Facebook may not fit your unrealistic ideals, but you have to admit that it's done more in a few years to enable people then anything ever before.

It's not a bad thing that one of the biggest computing innovators ever is now backing Occulus Rift, not a bad thing at all.

 

[PacalB]

The what now? That's a nice idealistic concept. What Facebook has done is provide a generic homogeneous interface to a personal profile and enabled billions of people to interact and communicate. Facebook may not fit your unrealistic ideals, but you have to admit that it's done more in a few years to enable people then anything ever before.

It's not a bad thing that one of the biggest computing innovators ever is now backing Occulus Rift, not a bad thing at all.

Not a bad thing at all you say?

Well, for someone whom states their location as Arrakis, the Fremen in you is extremely ... lacking ... shall we say? It seems you have sold out your heart and soul to the CHOAM corporation, eh? No, you are definitely not of the Fremen ilk.

 

[Darren Grey]

If CHOAM bought Oculus Rift that would be amazing! Just as long as those accursed Bene Gesserit don't get their hands on it...

 

[Cosmos]

Agree. The hysteria that has greeted this announcement is over the top even for the internet. Someone on the Limit Theory board wrote a post asking LT to cancel it's support for the OR and then later said they had changed their mind. The knee jerk reaction to this is amazing, I'm no great fan of facebook but at the same time I don't think they are the route of all evil.

I wouldn't call it hysteria. I think people understand whats really going on and are rightly concerned about the negative direction this is likely to take. If nothing else I've found the general reaction both amongst gamers and the media to be quite revealing and encouraging; many don't like Facebook and unchecked corporatism.

Before the product is even released they sold out and I think Oculus has betrayed the trust and point of crowdfunding; without which the Rift wouldn't exist. Hawks living in the venture capitalist world wouldn't back such a project but now with the project off the ground the very same types buy it up and get it anyway. So I am left wondering what the point of crowd funding is if it goes on to end up benefiting large corporates instead of helping someone with a cool idea get started and independently compete in the market.

Are we really wanting a world where the likes of Google and Facebook run everything? I say this entire episode stinks.

What might we all think if Frontier sold up to the likes of EA or Activision?

 

[PacalB]

I wouldn't call it hysteria. I think people understand whats really going on and are rightly concerned about the negative direction this is likely to take. If nothing else I've found the general reaction both amongst gamers and the media to be quite revealing and encouraging; many don't like Facebook and unchecked corporatism.

Before the product is even released they sold out and I think Oculus has betrayed the trust and point of crowdfunding; without which the Rift wouldn't exist. Hawks living in the venture capitalist world wouldn't back such a project but now with the project off the ground the very same types buy it up and get it anyway. So I am left wondering what the point of crowd funding is if it goes on to end up benefiting large corporates instead of helping someone with a cool idea get started and independently compete in the market.

Are we really wanting a world where the likes of Google and Facebook run everything? I say this entire episode stinks.

+10 That is exactly it sir. Cosmos, I'd rep you some more for those points if I could (it won't let me.) Grrr...