The Metaverse is Way Overhyped

Yes, I’m going to dump on Mark Zuckerberg again, this time for his dubious strategic business decisions.  In renaming his company Meta, and pursuing distorted views of our experiences, he has effectively ceded real life, basically saying the reality is inadequate.  His metaverse un-reality is the one that we should be striving for.

Here’s the problem.  The real world is simply so much better than what he can cook up using augmented reality and a headset.  And he’ll find a way of ruining even the metaverse, so that it will discourage people from seeking out real and honest experiences.  He’ll incite fear, uncertainty, and doubt into real life.

But truly the best thing about physical locations isn’t the locations themselves, but the people that occupy them.  Only by being face to face with these people can you appreciate the culture and personality of the region.

The Iceland advertisement is a wonderful counter to Zuckerberg’s misplaced confidence in his technology.  While Iceland is trying to entice tourists back, this is not incorrect.  I have been to Iceland, and it is like nothing you have ever seen on Earth.

I have been to Tallinn, Estonia.  Seen Eastern Orthodox churches in Serbia, St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.  Prague Castle and Edinburgh Castle.  London Bridge.  The ancient and beautiful walled city of Bruges.  Dracula’s Castle in Transylvania.  Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam. They have all enriched my life immensely.

Also, in a recent tweet, Forrester VP Jeffrey Hammond posted an absolutely wonderful image of a sunrise, with the question “Why do we need the metaverse when the physical world is so beautiful?”  We don’t.

But Zuckerberg apparently thinks he can call the real world, and raise the stakes into his own version of a hyper-world.  The arrogance of this guy is colossal.  We ceded our “friendships” to him; we cannot cede reality too.  Please don’t let the sociopath Zuckerberg win; he will ruin it for you, and for all of us.

As the poet e. e. cummings once wrote, “There’s a hell of a good universe out there; let’s go.”