Vision Pro's Arrival Echoes Mac's Launch 40 Years Ago
40 years ago, Apple launched the Macintosh, a groundbreaking computer that revolutionized the way we interacted with technology. This week, we are on the cusp of another breakthrough with the launch of the Apple Vision Pro, ushering in a new era of spatial computing. The Vision Pro promises to free us to use the space around us for mixed reality computing work, allowing us to visualize anything we want right in our living rooms.
Despite the hefty price tag, with the first batch of devices selling out and the shipment of the next batch pushed back due to popular demand, it’s clear that consumers are eager to embrace this new technology. This echoes the release of the original Macintosh, which was also met with high demand despite its high cost.
While the Vision Pro offers an exciting future, questions loom about its usefulness and potential limitations, particularly regarding the availability of compatible software. However, with its focus on theater entertainment, 3D content, and 3D movies, the Vision Pro offers a compelling glimpse into the future of computing.
At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, the Vision Pro’s arrival loomed large, overshadowing other high-end mixed reality headsets. It’s evident that Apple’s influence in the tech industry is significant, even without a physical presence at the event. Despite the excitement surrounding the Vision Pro, there are also questions about its potential as an accessibility tool and its practicality in everyday use.
As we stand on the precipice of this new computing era, it’s clear that the Vision Pro has the potential to redefine how we interface with technology, much like the Macintosh did 40 years ago. The future of computing is full of promise, and the arrival of the Vision Pro is just the beginning.
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40 years ago this week Apple released the Macintosh with a built-in screen keyboard mouse and floppy drive this was the start of a computer that changed the world on January 24th Steve Jobs pulled the Macintosh out of a bag and the Macintosh said hello this was an
All-in-one machine for the home that let users navigate around with a graphical interface it was such a big deal that it was teased in the iconic 1984 think different Super Bowl commercial directed by Ridley Scott now 40 years later we are about to enter a new era of
Computing with the launch of the Apple Vision Pro Apple calls this the spatial Computing era freeing us up to use the space around us for our mixed reality Computing work visualizing anything we want in our living room and yet how free will we feel with a headset strapped to
Our faces probably making our hair look silly as it beams dual 4K resolution screens onto our eyeballs while a battery pack Clips onto our pants the world is very different now than it was in 1984 but there are some parallels between these two moments in history in fact consumers today might be asking
Themselves some of the same questions as consumers did four decades ago like with it being so expensive what exactly can this big machine do and how useful will it be before the Vision Pro headset lands in consumer hands there’s one more thing to talk about this week how is
Apple going to get us thinking differently about what we want from computers I just got back from seeing Cutting Edge technology at the world’s largest consumer electronic show known as CES and The Vision Pro is not the only new tech that could influence where apple and personal Computing is heading
Next I’m Bridget Carey and this is one more thing we do not even have all the answers to what it’s like to use a visionpro headset and yet the first batch of devices arriving February 2nd are sold out of course you can still order a Vision Pro but now the shipping
Times for the next batch are pushed back roughly five or 6 weeks arriving in March analyst mingi quo estimates that Apple sold around 160,000 to 180,000 Vision Pros over the first weekend and he wrote that Apple should be able to produce half a million this year it’s another reminder that people really love
Apple and really trust Apple if they are fast to dish out nearly four grand to say they are among the First with a headset and that’s no exaggeration on the cost when you account for taxes and if you buy the $200 travel case that is
Just shy of $4,000 and I did not include Apple Care protection now that’s a lot of money to spend on a new type of computer but I keep thinking back to the original Macintosh computer from 40 years ago also very expensive and different for its time the introductory price of the Macintosh was
$2,495 which when adjusted for inflation is over $7,500 today so one Macintosh was two Vision pros and how many people were jumping to get a Macintosh if it was so pricey in the first four months Apple was reported to have sold 50,000 machines and apple reportedly spent millions of dollars in marketing and
Advertising including holding stunts for people to rent out the machine for 24 hours to try it so it was something that got a lot of Buzz even if not everyone bought one it was also reported Ed to have a very small library of software programs there were things like mac
Paint and Mac right of course we are talking about the early days today’s Macs have programs Galore in the App Store but limited software at launch could once again become a speed bump for apple with vision proos debut there’s been stories that several apps including Netflix and Spotify are not making
Special apps to work with the Vision Pro and I’m sure you’ll see a lot of the same apps that you get on the iPad but how many of those apps will be so specially designed for Vision Pro that it can Elevate the usefulness of the
Device to make it a must have or at least a must try at your local Apple Store theater entertainment right now is a big feature of the Vision Pro you can turn your space into a giant personal movie theater with different backgrounds like making it look like you’re watching
Star Wars on a Star Wars Planet because you really like Star Wars but there will be lots of 3D content and more than 150 3D movies so you can watch Avatar the way of water the way it was meant to be seen all by yourself inside goggles I
Really think the coolest uses for this will evolve in time just like we saw the Macintosh evolve and the same goes for any of Apple’s products remember the iPhone was pretty Limited in its features when it launched earlier this month I was running around the show floor of CES it’s the largest consumer
Tech show and companies come here to show off their visions of the future and wouldn’t you know it even though apple does not have any Booth or presentation at the show Apple still stole the show as it began Apple dropped news about the Vision Pro pre-orders and release date
And this looming Vision Pro arrival just hovered in the air now during my week I got to check out another mixed reality headset that also boasts very high-end specs to rival the Apple Vision Pro it is called the vario xr4 and it is from a Finnish company that says its resolution
And pass through cameras are so good that it’s being used right now for military training like a flight simulator with the US Department of Defense but it does need to be Tethered to a PC to run the programming it was impressive with how its cameras could
Tell where I was looking to keep the image in focus and I could pick up very fine details in the room I was in but also when it was time to use the pass through cameras I could easily read a piece of paper that I held in front of
Me but this high-end model is for industrial use it starts at 4 grand and it goes up to 10 grand and cost and that’s not even counting the price of the PC you still need to hook up to it it makes Vision Pro Look affordable but
Even so it depends what needs a business would have to get such a high-end image simulated and I think business needs will be a big motivator to where we go next in VR and visualizing products in front of us there were other headsets designed to help with very specific
Needs there’s the eite go it’s worn like a pair of glasses and it helps the visually impaired for people with central vision loss who normally cannot see much at all unless the object is just inches from their face they can use this to see fine details far away again
By having smart cameras and screens display the world up close to their eyes now I’ve been wondering how the Vision Pro could be seen as something to help with accessibility but it’s not like you want to walk around with a big Vision Pro headset at the grocery store so
Could the next Generations of Apple Vision get so light that it could be a health or exess accessibility tool to help make life easier with all those cameras and sensors there is a push for computing to be able to show you anything you want and have it look real
In front of you in your own little closed off headset world but mostly at CES there was a bigger Focus around the machine learning side of artificial intelligence where a computer can take all this data being collected and present a solution before you’re even aware that there could be a problem to
Solve so it’s less about the hardware and more about the computing power making the gear smarter and doing something useful with all this data we’re collecting there’s a mirror from barota called the beind it uses AI smarts and a camera to analyze your skin
And tell you how to fix your face it was not very kind to me notice Li bags oh no and all this gets me thinking if our computers will start doing more with all the data being gathered I have been wearing a new smart ring discovered
At the show it’s called the Eevee at it’s so much less intrusive than a smartwatch pinging me and needing charging every day now I do like my Apple watch but culturally could we be seen a pendulum swing us back to fewer screens more of an older Tech analog
Desire to fewer interruptions if the tech is smart enough to just recognize my activity and process the data on its own speaking of older Tech the clicks iPhone keyboard got a ton of interest at the show the case gives your iPhone physical keyboard buttons I got to check
It out a bit and my fingers got used to it after about 5 minutes and I got a personal walkthrough from Mr mobile himself Michael fiser who is a co-founder of the company but the hype around this shows you that there is a split of how even though we are moving
Toward a world where we can control computers with just our gestures there is still something We crave with wanting the physical click to control our interfaces just like how using a mouse can feel better than a trackpad I want to see if the vision proos hand gestures
Start re wiring our brains and if it can still give us that tangible feedback and control We crave I cover Apple every week but I couldn’t at this point justify dropping thousands of dollars to be among the first to have the Vision Pro so no I did
Not pre-order it that does not mean I don’t find it interesting I have been using the iPhone 15 Pro Max to take spatial videos of my family I am eager to see what it could be like and if home movies in 3D could change my Outlook on
The device we’re just going to see how the Vision Pro shapes up over time and if the data collected in our real world makes anything more interesting on what gets projected inside the virtual one let me know if you pre-order The Vision Pro or if you are waiting and why I’ll
Catch you next week when the spatial Computing era begins but you should probably watch the show from your Macintosh there’s no YouTube Vision Pro app thanks for watching
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Video “Vision Pro's Arrival Echoes Mac's Launch 40 Years Ago” was uploaded on 01/26/2024 to Youtube Channel CNET