Day: November 27, 2022

EDITORIAL: Two Recent YouTube Videos Take Aim at Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, and Meta’s Virtual Reality Hardware and Software Development

Horizon Workrooms get savaged in a highly critical review video by The Verge, a sign of the growing antipathy toward’s Meta virtual reality hardware and software strategy

This is worth negative ten billion dollars. I would pay ten billion dollars to never use this again. I wanted to have hope that we could do this, and it would be fun, but I mean, you guys agree that this one of the most buggy software experiences, ever.

—Alex Heath, The Verge (transcribed audio excerpt from the video below)

I’m still percolating, alas, but I did want to share with my readers a couple of YouTube videos which caught my attention.

The first, a 15-minute editorial video by The Verge‘s Adi Robertson, discusses Meta’s new Quest Pro VR headset and its Horizon Worlds and Horizon Workrooms social VR experiences. She and her colleagues did not hold back in their criticisms of both, particularly the Horizon platforms (the quote at the top of this blogpost comes from another writer for The Verge, as a group was kicking the tires on Horizon Workrooms).

The Verge staff make it very clear that they are less than impressed with what is on offer from Meta, and that they do not believe that remote workteams will be using either the Quest Pro or Horizon Workrooms, over a Zoom call.

The popular virtual reality YouTuber ThrillSeeker goes even further in the following 15-minute video, which has already racked up over 400,000 views:

In it, he takes Mark Zuckerberg and his team at Meta to task for dropping the ball with their virtual reality hardware and software strategy to date:

How in the hell did it go so wrong that Meta and Horizon have become the laughingstock of hundreds of videos and publications, and that Quests, for the most part, are just sitting on shelves collecting dust?

Meta, I understand that you are a massive corporation…and that running a business like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Oculus is probably incredibly difficult.

But you have somehow managed to turn one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life, into one of the lamest jokes in tech.

—ThrillSeeker

Among many other criticisms, he accuses Meta (rightfully) of focusing on wireless VR headsets to the exclusion of high-end PCVR (that is, headsets like his and my beloved Valve Index, which require a good desktop computer with a powerful graphics card, and can run a lot of applications which wireless headsets would struggle with.

What I find so fascinating about both these videos is that they are emblematic of a rising tide of antipathy against Meta, as it tries to repivot to become a metaverse company, sinking tens of billions of dollars a year into a VR/AR strategy that might take a decade or longer before it goes truly mainstream (that is, beyond the early adopters and the hardcore gamers). Both videos mention the recent massive layoffs at Meta, a further sign that all is not well with the company as it struggles to find the next big thing after social networking.

Mark Zuckerberg is placing a very expensive bet on virtual and augmented reality and the metaverse, but will that big bet pay off, and when? Stay tuned.

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Free Head and Body Skins from Boataom

Looking for other Black Friday weekend sales in Second Life? Start here.

Like thousands of other stores in Second Life, Boataom is throwing a Black Friday sale, with 60% off everything in the store. But did you know, that if you join the Boataom store group for free, you can pick up some lovely head skins, plus free body skins in the matching skin tones?

Just teleport into the store, head to the back wall, and you will see a generous group gifts section, which includes skins for LeLutka Evo X, Genus, and Catwa mesh heads. And, if you look up on the wall to your left, you can pick up body skins which match the skin tones of the Boataom head skins! The free skins are complete fatpacks of all the Boataom skin tones, and they come in packages for all the major female mesh body brands:

  • Maitreya mesh body applier, Omega applier and Bakes on Mesh skins
  • Legacy mesh body applier and Bakes on Mesh skins
  • Belleza mesh body applier, Omega applier, and Bakes on Mesh skins
  • Slink mesh body applier, Omega applier, and Bakes on Mesh skins
  • Kupra mesh body Bakes on Mesh skins
  • eBody Reborn mesh body Bakes on Mesh skins

In addition to head and body skins, you can also pick up some free makeup, hair, and even a static mesh head! There’s a second static mesh head for only L$10. (I reviewed both of these Boataom mesh heads here; they’re both not that great, sadly, and they don’t compare with the numerous free and inexpensive Bento mesh heads you can get elsewhere.)

Here’s a look I put together, using the free Kaya head which I picked up as a Christmas gift last year from LeLutka, and the free, Maitreya Lara-compatible Atenea mesh body, a Lucky Board gift from LucyBody. On this avatar, I used the Nicole head skin, paired with the Maitreya Bakes on Mesh skin, both in the Latina skin tone:

Looking fabulous! I picked up the hair for free (I believe it was an Advent calendar gift from Firelight Hair from a couple of years ago), and I got the dress for free, too (I joined the Ersch store group when they advertised a free join period, and I can pick up L$250 in free store credit each month as a group member, so I spent some on this dress!)

In fact, the total cost for this avatar look was only L$250 (for the Bakes on Mesh kit for the LucyBody Atenea mesh body, so you can use BoM skins with it). You see, it pays off to be a relentless Second Life freebie fashionista and bargain hunter! 😜 Further proof that you do not need to spend thousands of Linden dollars to have a well put-together avatar.

According to a notice posted to the Boataom group, while the rest of the group gifts will probably stick around, the body skins will only be available for free until December 4th, 2022, so don’t delay! Here’s your taxi.

Happy freebie shopping!