Google's Dysfunctional AR Division Plans Apple Vision Pro Clone With Samsung

Pons_Aelius , 10 months ago

Ok, start the Cancelled by Google stopwatch now.

I give this one 26 months.

reddig33 , 10 months ago

Of course they are. 🙄

shapesandstuff , 10 months ago

You know that its not new tech and not an innovation by apple, yea?

reddig33 , 10 months ago

I just think it’s stupid for anyone to jump into this product space at this time unless they have something novel to add. I doubt this will be the case with an announcement that makes it already feel like a “me too” product.

We don’t even know if Apple is going to have success with their product, and already here come the competitors with “announcements”. Google already failed with Glass. Microsoft has also had no success with AR/VR outside of small military experiments.

But by all means, let’s get excited by a Google (who cancel everything) and Samsung (who copy everything) press release.

shapesandstuff , 10 months ago

Microsoft has also had no success with AR/VR outside of small military experiments

I don’t have the numbers but i’m pretty sure the WMR platform is fairly common in consumer VR headsets?
You’re probably thinking of the hololens which is much more focused on professional applications.

Not sure how you spun this to me getting excited for google but ok, guess brand loyalists like to see the world in black and white.

exohuman , 10 months ago

Why do this? Why not put the money into R&D and market research and come up with an AR device that would be mass market consumer friendly and accessible? Meta’s Quest 2 is doing very well and a device in the same price range with upgraded features would do well.

csfirecracker OP , 10 months ago

Google has R&D ADHD. They get halfway to refining good ideas and then drop them for the new shiny. From the interviews with engineers in the article it seems like it comes from senior management.

huginn , 10 months ago

It definitely comes from up the chain.

Google promotes people who ship successful projects. So your managers are all people who have previously shipped something that was well received.

So they are very sure of their ability to ship the next thing and their ability to choose what’s important. Amplify that each step further up you go.

My skip level was overall fairly levelheaded but had a wildly out of sync estimation on team inertia. (she got let go shortly after the layoffs from what I’ve heard). The further up the chain you got and it was clear that she was constantly getting pressure to ship.

InvertedParallax , 10 months ago

This makes sense but I’m surprised about the pressure to ship, we saw pressure to deliver but also idiots kept having “brilliant ideas” about the requirements so whatever you were doing was obsolete before it was halfway to completion.

Google was just like God spilled a person.

huginn , 10 months ago

Yeah we were pretty focused on a specific app rework that had full buy-in and a lot of focus.

Then January happened and afaik all progress has basically stopped according to my old team.

Not my problem anymore. Got that sweet severance package and a new job that pays better.

InvertedParallax , 10 months ago

Wow, I left shortly after but I was still fresh.

Went to a startup with a xoogler boss who was brilliant but without all the stupid bits of Google, he’s awesome and we’re rocking.

The pay cut was worth the massive decrease in BS, I enjoy my job and being productive.

huginn , 10 months ago

Job satisfaction is super important if you want to go the distance. Sometimes you get that through good wlb. Sometimes it’s interesting problems. Other times it’s a lot of money.

I’m willing to endure a lot of suck if it means I can retire younger. I want to teach but am the sole breadwinner. Can’t take that step down.

InvertedParallax , 10 months ago

I retired once, very young, it felt stupid.

Job satisfaction makes working feel better than retirement, and you have an excuse for not doing things.

InvertedParallax , 10 months ago

It’s not senior, or at least not just senior, it’s the process.

You’re doing it for your promotion packet, once you’ve got that in place you leave and your project falls apart because there is absolutely 0 interest or understanding for Sustaining engineering or really anything except “I Made this”.

The smart people hop around while the slow ones try to milk out some promotions to keep going.

It’s a catastrophe, and with the current downturn the politics is turning nasty.

shapesandstuff , 10 months ago

Stop it. It’s not an “apple Vision pro clone”. Its an AR/MR headset

Those have existed for fuckin years.

Classic apple bullshit to claim old tech

eyy , 10 months ago

don’t you know, apple invented wireless charging!

shapesandstuff , 10 months ago

Invented mp3 players, touchscreens, smart phones, tablets, smart assistants, wireless earbuds, wireless charging, smart watches, AR goggles

oh wait.

OhStopYellingAtMe , 10 months ago

The way I see it, there a pattern:

• Some companies rush some new tech to market and it’s clunky / not user-friendly / a flop.
• Apple releases their own version of same tech, but it has a refined user-friendly interface that’s popular and successful.
• The other companies work to revise their products to match Apple’s successful version.
• Haters all scramble to say “Apple didn’t do it first, blah blah blah…”

shapesandstuff , 10 months ago

Apple releases their own version of same tech, but it has a refined user-friendly interface that’s popular and successful.

marketing

i’m not an apple hater either, this is just such an obvious one. It’s AR glasses within their walled garden.
If you’re not in the apple ecosystem it’s even worse.