Video of Facebook Connect 2021, where VR updates, Project Cambria, and a new Meta brand name were announced
by the US government — and articulating a vision for the future that's about building, not banning. https://www.facebook.com/... Carole Cadwalladr / @carolecadwalla : 'So basically what you're saying is that you're going to be able to send a text message just by thinking about moving your fingers.' WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG https://twitter.com/... Patton Oswalt / @pattonoswalt : I think the new Facebook called Meta looks fun. Anthony Miale / @anferno : Zuck is just like us! Sauce on the living room shelf https://twitter.com/... Brielle Garcia / @tacolamp : Did anything get announced that's actually shipping this decade? GTA for Quest sounds awesome. Progressive web apps are cool and useful. Non-FB login too. Just lots of CG trailers and hollow sounding promises otherwise.
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Context & Ripple Effects
Connect 2021 was the moment Facebook stopped being Facebook: the company renamed itself Meta and put Project Cambria on stage as its next high-end headset, capping months of Zuckerberg framing the metaverse as the successor to the social feed — a vision he had already defended in a July Q&A about how it might further splinter shared reality his metaverse vision Q&A. The same day brought the software layer to match: Horizon Home social spaces, Messenger VR calls, fitness VR, and Quest for Business with Work Accounts support on Quest 2.
First-order effects
Facebook's corporate identity becomes Meta overnight, and Project Cambria is positioned as the premium hardware track above the consumer Quest 2 line.
Quest 2 gains a work story via Work Accounts, moving the headset beyond gaming into enterprise use cases like remote collaboration and fitness.
Second-order effects
The rebrand sets up a year of follow-through: by mid-2022 Meta moves to decouple Quest logins from Facebook IDs entirely with new Meta accounts, softening the privacy friction the old branding carried.
Cambria matures into the high-end headset Meta teases for its next Connect — the October 2022 event where it is expected to debut as Quest Pro with eye- and facial-tracking aimed at 'social presence' the virtual Connect 2022 announcement.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, Meta's hardware strategy converges on ecosystem-over-margin economics — selling headsets near cost to seed the metaverse platform, with identity, work accounts, and presence-tracking as the lock-in layers rather than any single device.
The trend: Consumer VR is consolidating around vertically integrated platforms that trade hardware margin for ecosystem scale, with annual Connect keynotes serving as the roadmap.
Hmm. The “Facebook 👍 Sign” at 1 Hacker Way is covered in a temporary canvas/cover which also shows 👍. Earlier a small security team was putting up a barrier/cordon around it and guards are patrolling 🤷🏻♂ ️ (Note: did not see the cover go up) $FB #Facebook story @TheTerminal http…
“In the metaverse, you can decide when you need to take a break and teleport to a private bubble to be alone.” Eating lunch and watching this. And weeping. https://twitter.com/...
Zuck says the metaverse is gonna require “new forms of government.” Well. If there's one thing we know we can trust Zuck with, it's building governance on platforms.
Just realized with a sinking feeling that this whole NFT thing is basically the groundwork to Facebook forcing us to buy avatars as in-game purchases in the metaverse just to attend a business meeting. Legs will cost extra
The Zuck video today for Meta might well have been cheesy but it was incredible important...maybe one of the most important things I have seen in years (although something I have expected and written about for a long time). 1/
The whole presentation is worth watching in full for the complete mindfuck experience. But @nickclegg is always a highlight. Here he is allaying fears that the metaverse might destroy democracy or launch nuclear missiles from your toaster which of course it can't https://twitter.…
Not so subtle @Apple swipe by Zuck: “This period has also been humbling” because as big company, we are also building on other platforms. “Living under their rules has profoundly changed my view on the tech industry.” https://twitter.com/...
Please note: we must still fund people to decentralize Facebook. I'm glad that Zuck discussed interoperability, and virtual economies, but we do need alternatives. However, the only substantive critique is a constructive one: build the future better. https://twitter.com/...
Here's Zuck's keynote for #connect2021 If you have any interest in #VR #AR this is a must-see. Can they build the #metaverse spending $10BN a year? Their vision is tremendously exciting, and more than a little terrifying. What do you think? https://www.facebook.com/...
This is something that is truly exponential. It is the future of everything but you can choose your future and your society that most aligns with you. This is the game changer. Don't use your cynicism about Facebook. See the change.
Liberal democracy is the worst form of government in history, except for all the rest that have been tried from time to time. Perhaps the companies entrusted with ethical governance of a global metaverse should be governed by rotating CEOs & board members elected by shareholders.…
Connect 2021 starts in a few minutes! Tune in for the keynote to hear about the latest innovations in augmented and virtual reality: https://www.facebook.com/... And follow the 🧵below for news and announcements from the event 👇
Note something else: lesser men would have crumbled in the face of years of relentless attacks from all sides. Easy to just give in. But the modern arena is a crucible, selecting for the kind of leader who can somehow notch record wins despite all that. https://twitter.com/...
Go watch Zuck's keynote. Because it's not just a talk on the metaverse. It's about standing firm in the face of a nation state attack — by the US government — and articulating a vision for the future that's about building, not banning. https://www.facebook.com/...
This is actually a pretty realistic demo in that Zuckerberg's employees and immediate family are probably the only people telling him this is really cool https://twitter.com/...
'So basically what you're saying is that you're going to be able to send a text message just by thinking about moving your fingers.' WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG https://twitter.com/...
Did anything get announced that's actually shipping this decade? GTA for Quest sounds awesome. Progressive web apps are cool and useful. Non-FB login too. Just lots of CG trailers and hollow sounding promises otherwise.