Apple is not a Metaverse company it claims, but then again maybe it is

According to a Bloomberg report Apple says it is not planning to be a Metaverse company, but then again this rather depends on what you mean by Metaverse.

“I've been told pretty directly that the idea of a completely virtual world where users can escape to - like they can in Meta Platforms/Facebook's vision of the future - is off limits from Apple,” says Mark Gurman, author of the Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg.

Instead Apple is to focus on its augmented reality device — but then again…

As the author of another newsletter called William Shakespeare tweeted way back in the late 1590s: “That which we call a Metaverse, by any other name would smell as sweet.” Apologies, can’t find the original Tweet.

As a matter of interest, Meta matters

Zuckerberg’s vision behind Meta and the Metaverse is not as foolish or cynical as it seems; the Meta model is incredibly bold and could catapult the company to the top of the league table of the world’s biggest companies.

Techopian - The conversation and voice for ethical technologyMichael Baxter

What is the Metaverse? A popular interpretation of the Metaverse is that it is an always on virtual world but actually that is just one interpretation.

There are those who  describe the Metaverse as any form of digital activity involving communication— so for example, zoom calls or a collaborative video games could be Metaverse activities.

In Metaverse, will everyone hear you scream?

What is the Metaverse? How will the Metaverse change work and society, or there’s the Metaverse’s effect on play fun even humanity?

Techopian - The conversation and voice for ethical technologyMichael Baxter

The real problem here is Mark Zuckerberg and the perception (right or otherwise) of what he and Facebook stand for. Metaverse as defined by Meta feels a tad dystopian.

So instead, Apple is planning an augmented reality device — so far so exciting, but doesn’t that feel a tad meta?

One is tempted to say of Apple: “Me think it doth protest too much.”