Apple, Meta and the metaverse


Axio:

Mark Zuckerberg is leading the metaverse charge because he wants to make sure that Apple doesn't own whatever comes after the smartphone â€" which Silicon Valley assumes will be some mix of headsets and goggles, mixed-reality applications and remote presence.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is now investing heavily in all kinds of hardware â€" VR, AR, smart home devices and more â€" to try to make sure Apple doesn't own the next generation of devices. But first movers don't always win platform wars.

A, or the, metaverse is not defined, although there are ideas. I think we can think of Apple's iOS as an early iteration of a metaverse and the iPhone is its native interface. Lives are largely lived on iOS, its apps, and its services. The iPhone, and by extension, the iPad, made it all possible. Apple has expanded that to Macs, TVs, and watches. You're a second-class citizen in the iOS-verse if don't have a native Apple device, but you can still participate.

With that concept in mind, it will be interesting to see what's next. Will the dominant result be a curated experience from a big tech company or companies, or will it be decentralized on Web 3.0? Either way, people will need devices to interface with it, and that will be the next second battle.