June 9, 20223

Good column by The New York Times’ conservative writer Ross Douthat. The technology required to develop and create Apple’s Vision Pro headset is, in its own way, incredibly impressive. But there is something very creepy, off-putting, and ultimately dystopian about these goggles and the “immersive experience” they offer. 

In Apple’s ad to introduce the product (scrub to the 2:00 mark), a father wearing Vision Pro goggles watches his children playing so he can take a video that will allow him to rewatch the scene in life-size space at a later date. WTF? Why isn’t he just enjoying watching his kids play, or better yet, playing with them? Seeing him grin at the kids while wearing those stupid goggles is weird and terribly strange. Wonder what the kids are thinking?

The world that this immersive technology portends has little appeal to me. Actually, at $3,499 per headset, it has no appeal to me.

Illustration: Alain Pilon. Copyright ©The New York Times and ©Alain Pilon 2023.