Chris Glass<p>A 30 minute demo of the Apple Vision Pro in the store is the perfect amuse-bouche to whet the appetite. It’s the greatest hits of oooos and ahhhhs that leaves you wanting more — enough to make bad decisions with a credit card.</p><p>But once you get home and dig deep, it becomes apparent that this is an amazing product with limited use cases.</p><p>THE GOOD</p><p>Yes, it is <em>absolutely</em> wonderful for photos and videos — particularly panoramas and immersive movies. The speakers are fantastically nice without covering your ears. You can get to inbox zero in a whole new way! (Actually kind of fun.) The operating system is gorgeous and I’d like this design language to flow back to desktop!</p><p>THE MEH</p><p>Safari has a wonky viewport and renders webpages at a large scale. It’s not terribly comfortable after extended use. Window management is annoying and states aren’t currently persistent between sessions. Gestures are wanting — too much pinching and dragging when I’d rather point and flick…</p><p>The last worst thing? It’s <em>impossible</em> to share this thing with others — worse than an iPad without multiple user accounts. A guest can only access after your retina unlocks it. My first <a href="https://chrisglass.com/2019/05/23/virtual-kayaking/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Oculus Quest</a> was built for sharing, which I did, A LOT.</p><p>Aside from looking at photos and videos, I can’t think of a darn thing else to do with this thing as it stands.</p><p>I’m certainly not surprising friends with video calls again soon, though it inspired lots of chuckles. Also? My eyes are up here! </p><a href="https://chrisglass.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/020624-headset-IMG_4217.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://chrisglass.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/020624-avatar.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://chrisglass.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/020624-selfie-IMG_4301.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a><p>Don’t get me wrong, it’ll get oodles better with refinement and more software. On that note, maybe you’ll run a bunch of apps through Safari in the meantime? Good luck! You get <strong>one</strong> Safari window with tabs, not multiple instances.</p><p>Again, I realize <strong>this is 1.0 </strong>— but I don’t think having Slack in a separate window is going to get me excited for the possibilities.</p><p>I tried tried pairing it with a computer and keyboard to see what that’s all about and it never worked after many restarts and work-arounds. I think I know where I’d land with that anyway… <strong>My greatest productivity hack is having a single monitor</strong> and keeping my desktop(s) clean (IRL and virtual).</p><p>I have the deadline to return this thing noted on the calendar. I’m leaning bye for now and yay for the possibilities. </p><p>If I was a developer I might keep it, but for me? I’d rather save money, watch movies on a television and have a rig that plays Beat Saber with controllers.</p><p>Here’s what I REALLY want out of spatial computing and I can’t believe I’m saying this… <strong>I want a dongle.</strong> Give me a little thing to track eyes, hands and voice to let me swipe, gesture and blather about what I want to happen on a screen at my desk or couch.</p><p>Heck, maybe what I really want is <em><strong>gestural</strong></em> computing.</p><p>Anyway the Apple Vision Pro is really neat, and I don’t need one right now. I’ll totally loop back on this one.</p><p>Speaking of loops, if Apple ever made a jumper/sweater/hoodie/coat with the magic of that solo knit band, I’d preorder it pronto — it felt <strong>so</strong> good.</p><p>—</p><p>UPDATE 4/15: I returned the Vision Pro without hassle. This is the first Apple device I think I’ve ever taken back. I felt super bad about it but then made a mental calculation of the many products bought and kept. Apple will be fine.</p><p><a href="https://chrisglass.com/2024/02/06/the-apple-vision-pro-is-amazing-for-one-hour/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://chrisglass.com/2024/02/06/the-apple-vision-pro-is-amazing-for-one-hour/</a></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://chrisglass.com/tag/apple/" target="_blank">#Apple</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://chrisglass.com/tag/headset/" target="_blank">#headset</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://chrisglass.com/tag/pictures-of-screens/" target="_blank">#picturesOfScreens</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://chrisglass.com/tag/pooping/" target="_blank">#pooping</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://chrisglass.com/tag/vr/" target="_blank">#VR</a></p>