What is the Metaverse

Today I watched a presentation on the Metaverse and the speaker began by talking about what it is not. He prefaced those remarks by saying that he would be breaking a fundamental rule by so doing. I don't fault him for it as quite a few people are trying to define what it is and a number of companies are working to help create it in the hopes of making large fortunes.

Before continuing  I have to go back a few years when Facebook changed it's name to Meta. Facebook was created as an online social site where people could go share the highlights of their lives. With the passing of time they realized that people will continue to evolve with how they interact online and it is no coincidence that Meta is one of the leaders promoting the Metaverse. It would not surprise me if they try to trademark the name as it so closely matches their own company name.

Ultimately the Metaverse is already in existence and is simply how we interact online. Just as any technology evolves, so will the Metaverse. Right now we use a computer, tablet, smartphone, or game console to interact online. Those tools that we use will evolve to include virtual reality (VR) headsets and augmented reality (AR) glasses. There will be other inventions to come along so that it might evolve into an environment similar to the OASIS from the movie Ready Player One. Unfortunately that is our interpretation of the Metaverse and most likely it will be different. Just as we currently have multiple devices capable of browsing the Internet, the Metaverse won't require VR glasses, they will just be helpful to get the full experience of the environment.

One of the topics that surfaced in the presentation I watched included current video games. There are a number of wondrous worlds created for the latest video games and it would be enjoyable to spend more time in them. Often times we are rushed through the action adventure story and never get the chance to stop and enjoy the environment we are in. I feel that way about my current game, Horizon: Forbidden West. While I could just stop, sit on a rock, and watch a sunrise in the game, there isn't enough sensory stimulation in my current interface to make me want to stop. Perhaps that will be there in the future.

There are some other video games that could become building blocks to the Metaverse. The two big ones mentioned are Roblox and Minecraft. Both allow you to build and create things. I always tell people that Minecraft is like Legos without the mess. The reason they are important is that they show how users can add to their existing game environment. Imagine being able to create your own world and then watch how popular it becomes as others come to explore it. It reminds me of my YouTube channel and the importance of acquiring new viewers. Of course some will want to keep their worlds to themselves but there is an inherent trait in most to share their art with others.

Right now the Metaverse is in its infancy and is built on the current Internet infrastructure. It is how we interact socially online and will grow and blossom as we create more content for it. Will any one company control it? I hope not. I also hope that it becomes a benefit for us instead of another waste of time.

Top Uses of the Internet

I had an interesting discussion with one of my friends at work about the top uses of the Internet. Would you care to guess what number one is? You would be right if you guessed, "communication" or "e-mail." It depends upon whose list you are reading as both are credited with the top spot.

Everyone uses the Internet for a number of different things. Some people use it for entertainment while others use it for research. However we all use it to send and receive e-mail. There are also a lot that use it for sending or reading tweets. Think about Facebook and isn't that just another form of e-mail/communication?

So what are some other categories of Internet usage? Looking at a number of "Top-10" lists show that it can be used for downloading files, playing games, looking for a job, or shopping. I think the great thing about the Internet is that there are so many uses and no one person uses it the same as another.

I remember doing a similar search when the World Wide Web first started becoming popular. There were as many ideas as there were companies trying to capitalize on the technology. Does anyone remember WebVan? They tried to deliver groceries before going under. It is probably no coincidence that they got folded into Amazon who is now trying to do something similar with their acquisition of Whole Foods.

It is nice to see that the Internet has matured to the point of where it is now. I think there is a lot more innovation we will see with it and is exciting to see what new ideas will arise from it in the future. I imagine that the majority of new ideas will be evolutionary instead of revolutionary. Don't be surprised by the revolutionary ideas though as they do come along every now and then. It is just a matter of time.

Instagram and Social Media

I know it sounds kind of weird when I say that I am not a big fan of social media. It probably sounds even more strange when I write it in a blog as a blog is a form of social media. There are a number of different social media tools though and it is some of those other tools that I think are unworthy of my time.

One of the Monday morning regulars that I fly with from Salt Lake City to the Bay Area was telling me about how his daughter's weekend was ruined by Instagram. I am not much of a photographer and don't feel the need to post pictures of my various events for people to see and so I must confess that I disliked Instagram even before I heard his story.

My friend's preteen daughter was busy this weekend with soccer games and missed out on getting an invite to a party. The next day she checked into Instagram and saw all sorts of pictures of her friends having a good time without her. It was devastating to her self-esteem. My friend had to sit down with his daughter and comfort her. I didn't get the details of what he said but he did mention that social media has gotten out of control. I agree with him. My takeaway from his story was that his daughter got out of the house and actually did something worthy of her time by playing soccer.

While I may think that social media tools like Instagram and Facebook are a waste of time, there are some benefits they do provide. Last Friday we were at work watching the Mavericks Invitational that came about because of Twitter.  My understanding is that on Monday the weather was predicted to be perfect for the event on Friday and so everyone leveraged Twitter to organize the event and get the competitors in place.

I think the important thing to remember with social media is true with anything we find desirable: moderation. While a jelly doughnut tastes good, too many of them will have you looking like the Michelin man. Furthermore you may think you were the life of the party and want everyone to bask in your glory but reality is you probably look like a dork . . . and if you have been eating all of the hors d'oeuvres, the Michelin man too.

Be Careful What You Write

A few weeks ago, I attended a presentation on Internet Security. The purpose of the talk was to expose the dangers of putting too much personal information on the Internet. With the advent of Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook, there are a lot of ways to keep all of your friends up-to-date with your latest activities. However this can be a bad thing. Perhaps you mention that you have just acquired that rare item on e-bay that represents the bulk of your net worth. Then a few weeks later, you mention that you are on vacation. Any thief with Internet access and a willingness to do a bit of research can figure out how to unburden you from your prized possession.

For some in the audience, it was difficult to see how one could make the jump from reading a blog (like this one) to knowing the exact location of a person. The speaker then gave an illustration of how a teenager was befriended by an online predator. The teenager was smart enough to know better than to give out personal information but that didn't stop the predator. He was able to discover her e-mail and did an Internet search. He was able to find a post on a collectibles website where she gave her mother's phone number. The predator was able to do a reverse telephone lookup and get her address. It was only a matter of luck that the authorities were able to apprehend the predator before any damage was done. When they caught him, he had a map with driving instructions to the teenager's house.

At the end of the presentation it became very apparent that the speaker was against any type of online presence. While that may be a bit drastic, he did have some good points. First, make sure you have a valid reason for posting information. Second, be careful what you post as it may become a lure for tragedy. Finally, be aware of what your children are posting. While I may be upset if someone were to steal my favorite pair of skis, I wouldn't cry too long. If someone were to harm one of my children, it would be a much different story.

Friendly Recommendations

Last night was my monthly Board of Directors meeting for the Snowbird Sports Education Foundation. During the meeting we talked about attracting more members and the topic of online media came up. One of the board members had just attended a seminar on viral marketing and using sites like Facebook and MySpace to increase memebership.

I sat there quietly listening. I actually am in the process of getting a patent for some software I wrote that is used for viral marketing. I understand the lure of low-cost marketing methods and can see why organizations would want to embrace them. However I also understand the difference between theory and reality. It is one thing to talk about success cases but quite another to actually implement one.

The idea behind viral marketing is that people are more likely to purchase something based on a friend's recommendation than an ad seen on TV (unless it is after 9pm and you see a fast-food commercial . . . they make me hungry). For example, if a friend goes to see the latest action movie and comes back with a glowing recommendation about how exciting it was, I am more likely to go see the movie than if I read a review.

The problem is how to get people talking about the movie and recommending it to their friends. Unless someone asks me what I did over the weekend or if I have seen a specific movie, I am reluctant to share my thoughts about it. I am also careful about what movies I recommend to whom. I was once on a business trip with one of our salesmen. We arrived at our hotel and saw that there was a movie theater across the parking lot. We quickly checked in and ran to see if we could catch a late showing of a newly released movie. We made it and had a great time watching the film. But it was a "guy" film and most of the women in the audience came away thinking less of their dates. Naturally I would never recommend that film to anyone but guys. Furthermore I would recommend they see it with other guys and not their wives or girlfriends.

How does a company leverage "friend's recommendations" to sell product or, in our case, increase ski team participants? With the ski team, you want the current kids to have a great experience and talk about it to their friends. I think that is already happening as shown by the number of team members that live close together. The real trick is getting outside the existing circle of influence. If all your friends are on the ski team, there really isn't anyone else to recommend.

I guess my only advice with viral marketing is to proceed with caution. Some strategies work while others just sound good on paper. As for me, I'm just trying to figure out how to get more people to read my BLOG.

Increased Efficiency?

Computers are supposed to make our lives easier. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. When I first started doing database consulting to help pay my way through college, I had one of my customers question why computers were even necessary. My customer was a glove manufacturer based in Tacoma, Washington. His company had been making gloves since 1917 and didn't need computers when they started. His question caused me to think if computers have really made our lives easier or not.

Unfortunately for my customer, things had changed significantly enough that there was no way you could go back to doing business without a computer. In 1917, union rules didn't exist that do today. These rules are the reason for 90% of his computing needs. Today a seamstress in the glove factory is paid a different amount for each type of stitch used to make the glove. That and several other rules mean that the glove manufacturer would be out of business without extensive computer bookkeeping.

When I first started questioning whether or not computers were helpful in my own life, I was going to college. My primary use of computers was as a word processor to help turn in homework. Having done one or two papers on a typewriter, I felt the computer was a huge benefit for me in getting my assignments done. I would have flunked out of school without spell-check.

Today I look at my own children and see how they use the computer. My oldest daughter is in college and she uses her laptop computer constantly. She even brings it to class every day for taking notes. My three other kids are constantly using the family computer for their homework as well.

Unfortunately there is a downside to all this increased productivity. There is now more time to relax. Instead of going outside and hanging out with friends, kids are sitting at home and spending time on Facebook or MySpace. When my oldest daughter was home during the summer, she spent so much time on Facebook, I had to turn off her computer's access to our home Internet connection. Recently we have had to limit Facebook time for our youngest daughter as well.

Once again I have to ask myself if the computer is really helping me and my family. I think that having a computer is now a necessity. If you don't have a computer that your kids can use to do schoolwork, they are at a huge disadvantage. However some of the efficiencies gained through having a computer are negated by some of our leisure activities.

Oh good, my oldest son just finished his game. Now it is my turn to slay dragons or race electronic images on the Playstation 3.