The Dystopian Future of Headsets

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I feel like even the demos that they showed off when they were presenting the device at their event looked really odd. And it was kind of like, is this really what we need? Is this something that I was really desiring and that I needed a solution for? The idea that you're going to have all these workers strapping headsets onto their faces and doing their work seems a bit far-fetched for me. It's another instance where Apple is sort of trying to breach new territory.

Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss the vision of the future of computing offered by Apple’s Vision Pro headset and why it should be resisted.

Brian Merchant is the technology columnist at the LA Times. He’s also the author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone and Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech. Follow Brian on Twitter at @bcmerchant.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Paris will be in Edmonton, Alberta on June 24. More info here.
Brian wrote a column about the Apple Vision Pro for the LA Times, and another about Uber drivers in California getting payouts.
Paris also wrote about why Apple Vision Pro should be ridiculed for Disconnect.
David Karpf called virtual reality the “rich white kid of technology.”
Meta employees are not working in the metaverse.
Mark Gurman reported on the internal division at Apple over whether to release the Vision Pro in its current form.

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