The Metaverse: A Guide to the Future of Capitalism
Tom Nicholas・27 minutes read
Facebook's rebranding to Meta focuses on building the metaverse through a 77-minute video presentation hosted by Mark Zuckerberg, showcasing bold visions and new directions for the company. The move aims to address platform capitalism, reshape capitalism through tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Amazon, and establish dominance in VR headsets to control more aspects of users' lives.
Insights
- Facebook's rebranding as Meta signals a strategic shift towards building the metaverse, an immersive internet experience using virtual and augmented reality technologies, with bold visions presented in a 77-minute video at the “Connect” conference hosted by Mark Zuckerberg.
- The rise of platform capitalism, exemplified by tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Amazon, has reshaped the digital landscape, creating power imbalances through vast data extraction, monopolistic control over software distribution, and the emergence of lean platforms like Uber and Airbnb that outsource services to minimize costs and risks.
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Recent questions
What is the metaverse?
A proposed evolution of the internet using VR and AR.
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Summary
00:00
Facebook's Meta: Building the Metaverse Future
- Facebook released a 77-minute video presentation in October for its annual “Connect” conference, hosted by Mark Zuckerberg, announcing the company's rebranding as Meta to focus on building the metaverse.
- The metaverse is a proposed evolution of the internet using virtual and augmented reality technologies for more immersive interactions, akin to Ready Player One.
- The presentation included bold visions of the future and rebranding existing VR games as “metaverses”, with a section on fitness featuring Zuckerberg in a CGI fencing match with Olympic champion Lee Kiefer.
- Despite some viewing the presentation as a rich man's fever dream, it highlighted Facebook's new direction amidst leaked internal documents revealing the company's knowledge of platform misuse.
- The announcement of the metaverse has sparked varied reactions, with some seeing it as epoch-making while others mock it as out-of-touch tech.
- Understanding the metaverse requires grasping how tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Amazon have reshaped capitalism, setting the stage for future discussions.
- The rise of burnout among YouTubers due to platform control reflects a broader lack of choice and control experienced by individuals interacting with dominant digital platforms.
- Digital platforms like Facebook, Google, and Amazon extract vast amounts of data, making them essential to modern life and creating a power imbalance between users and the platforms.
- The dominance of big tech companies like Facebook and Google has reshaped capitalism through new business models, as detailed in Nick Srnicek's book Platform Capitalism.
- The birth of platform capitalism can be traced back to the launch of Airbnb in 2008, which popularized a new business model of acting as an intermediary between service providers and users, similar to Uber and other digital platforms.
15:20
Surfshark: Privacy, Streaming, and Platform Capitalism
- Surfshark.deals/tomnicholas offers 83% off a 2-year plan and 4 extra months for free at $2.21 per month.
- Surfshark provides privacy online by creating a private internet connection to protect user data.
- Surfshark allows users to access content from different countries, enhancing streaming services like Netflix.
- Platform capitalism relies on mass user data collection, impacting online privacy.
- Companies like Netflix and Amazon operate as intermediaries, licensing content from third parties.
- Lean platforms like Uber and Airbnb outsource services to minimize costs and risks.
- Valve takes a 30% cut from Steam sales, similar to other digital platforms like PlayStation Store and Apple's App Store.
- Companies like Apple and Microsoft utilize monopolistic control over software distribution to maximize profits.
- Social media platforms like Facebook dominate due to natural monopolies created by social connections.
- Amazon and Facebook expand their services to increase control and influence in their respective sectors.
29:43
Meta's Metaverse: Dominance, Control, and Expansion
- Facebook is motivated to move into the metaverse due to platform capitalism, where it currently faces drawbacks distributing its mobile apps through Apple and Google's app stores, leading to revenue sharing.
- Zuckerberg aims to move beyond reliance on Apple and Google, wanting control over the most popular operating system and app store through Meta's dominance in VR headsets.
- Meta plans to subsidize VR headsets to attract more users into its ecosystem, establishing an upper hand in personal computing evolution.
- Meta, like Coca Cola in the past, seeks to measure success not just by user numbers but by the proportion of human life channeled through its services, expanding into workplace VR tools and fitness markets.
- Zuckerberg envisions Meta's ecosystem encompassing various activities beyond social media, aiming to monetize and control more aspects of users' lives.
- While Zuckerberg claims the metaverse will enhance time spent online, the shift to VR will require energy and intentionality, potentially replacing real-world interactions with virtual experiences.
