Meta Executive Advisor and former Oculus CTO John Carmack leaves the company after more than eight years, saying Meta is operating at “half the effectiveness”
over *years* of effort — to produce little more than... ...legless 1992 quality avatars... viewed through a size 16 boot strapped to your face... https://twitter.com/... Casilli / @antoniocasilli : Metaverse shows encouraging signs. Apple is coming out with a VR device—so long as there's no supply chain kerfuffle, like with iPhones. Still, there are some warning signs, like top VR guys leaving Meta...https://www.theverge.com/ ... Bob Sutton / @work_matters : The “metaverse” is a classic case of spending money as a substitute for thinking. @JeffreyPfeffer and I wrote about this stuff in The Knowing Gap. Well-funded “urgent” projects often create giant, slow, and ineffective bureaucracies. #frictionproject https://www.nytimes.com/... @adamdraper : Thanks for everything you did @ID_AA_Carmack. #VR is thanksful. https://arstechnica.com/... Paul Dix / @pauldix : My favorite quote: “it is the more the personal pain of seeing a 5% GPU utilization number in production. I am offended by it.” Carmack is my spirit animal. https://twitter.com/... @rafaelshimunov : Imagine making a statement about leaving Meta because of its faults, and being so protected and insulated from backlash or personal harm of going further...only to skip over its abuses of human rights and democracies across the world, including right here at home. So brave. https://twitter.com/... Richard Lawler / @rjcc : “but really, it is the more personal pain of seeing a 5% GPU utilization number in production. I am offended by it.” yup, just like I thought. bro could not stand Meta running VR using fewer FLOPS than an SLI 3DFX card in 1998 https://www.facebook.com/... @tariqkrim : The soul of Facebook metaverse has left https://www-nytimes-com.cdn.ampproject. org/ ... Glyn Moody / @glynmoody : Once a #VR true believer, a “wearied” John Carmack leaves Meta - https://arstechnica.com/... “Departing CTO rails against “inefficiency” and “self-sabotage” in the Meta ranks.” just bin it... Ashley Stewart / @ashannstew : Meta VR expert John Carmack derided the company's bureaucracy in his internal exit memo. “We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort,” he wrote in the memo, which you can read in full here: https://www.businessinsider.com/ ... Kali Hays / @hayskali : This internal goodbye note from John Carmack, who is leaving Facebook/Meta after joining Oculus in 2013, is honestly, like, damn wow. W @ashannstew https://www.businessinsider.com/ ... Brad Gerstner / @altcap : The best people in the world want to work hard, move fast, & ship product to change the world. Meta's Fitness is not just about the bottom line - it is about attracting, inspiring & retaining your best talent. 100x people want to win! https://medium.com/... https://twitter.com/... John Carmack / @id_aa_carmack : As anyone who listens to my unscripted Connect talks knows, I have always been pretty frustrated with how things get done at FB/Meta. Everything necessary for spectacular success is right there, but it doesn't get put together effectively. Dan Luu / @danluu : I find this letter from Carmack interesting in that it summarizes a sentiment I've heard from literally all of the highest impact/most effective people I've talked to at large companies: You can make a big difference, but you're constantly fighting a self-sabotaging organization https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... John Carmack / @id_aa_carmack : I thought that the “derivative of delivered value” was positive in 2021, but that it turned negative in 2022. There are good reasons to believe that it just edged back into positive territory again, but there is a notable gap between Mark Zuckerberg and I on various strategic \ Kent Bye VoicesOfVR / @kentbye : Carmack resigned his VR position at Meta, & was already part-time focusing on his AI start-up. He was a mobile VR pioneer & a refreshing critical voice. He says, “I think our organization is operating at half the effectiveness that would make me happy.” https://www.facebook.com/... https://twitter.com/... Ian Bogost / @ibogost : John Carmack posted his resignation from Meta, and it contains a fascinating line, one I can't stop thinking about. First he says, “We have a good product.” Then comes this: “It is successful, and successful products make the world a better place.” https://www.facebook.com/... Lee Edwards / @terronk : On the way out the door, John Carmack just made the exact argument by email, that if leaked to the press (as it was,) would damage Meta stock the most. I can't think of a more company damaging statement he could have made. https://www.facebook.com/... https://twitter.com/... Dan Finlay / @danfinlay : Kinda respecting Zuck that this resignation can be posted on Facebook without any retaliation/censorship. https://twitter.com/... Tadhg Kelly / @tiedtiger : Carmack resigns from Meta, leaves some strong but entirely fair critique/mission-calling as a parting gift. Wise words for all in VR/AR, frankly. https://twitter.com/... @autismcapital : Legendary autist John Carmack just resigned from META. We are also hearing from internal employees that Zuckerberg has become even more tyrannical and is trying to pivot into the AI grift in addition to VR. Meta is not looking too hot. Good for Carmack! https://twitter.com/... Craig Mod / @craigmod : i mean, if you watched carmack's talk at the quest announcement last month, this comes as no surprise: https://www.businessinsider.com/ ... @nathievr : @ID_AA_Carmack We, the VR community are eternally grateful for what you have done for VR with always great foresight. You were truly one of the faces of Oculus and Meta Quest. Hope you stay active in the VR scene. We love you! https://twitter.com/... @suhail : Carmack burned the boat and is all in on AI. 🚀 https://twitter.com/... @preffalsifier : @ID_AA_Carmack @MorlockP Any thoughts on why hasn't meta shipped any custom silicon yet? When Apple enters the fray, their perf/watt will be hard to beat John Carmack / @id_aa_carmack : @PrefFalsifier @MorlockP I see no reason to expect that Meta could build a better CPU/GPU than Qualcomm (at much lower volumes!), and there isn't as much opportunity for full custom special units in VR as people think. This leads people to propose lots of MR features, which are of unproven value. @irenacronin : @Scobleizer Not surprised - he has always been very vocal when he saw some technical or operational thing he didn't like at Meta. @amasad : Carmack points out that he didn't have a sufficiently influential voice at Meta despite rank, and that caused a ton of inefficiencies. This is a common dilemma: You'd want your geniuses to be coding and making things, but you risk them being out of the loop on important decisions https://twitter.com/... Jordan Novet / @jordannovet : ‘This is the end of my decade in VR.’ https://twitter.com/... Jeremy Williams / @jerware : I'll never understand how a company has John Carmack on staff and doesn't defer to his every suggestion. Imagine the hubris of people who think they know better than an absolute God. https://twitter.com/... Callum Hurley / @multicallum : Meta drove it's most valuable asset right out the door. https://twitter.com/... @kytsune : This doesn't bode well for Meta's VR division; Carmack believes Meta is best positioned to bring it to the world except that it's overstretching and poorly managed. He has been a luminary in the field and I expect he'll do well in his next endeavor. https://www.nytimes.com/... Brad Lynch / @sadlyitsbradley : “I have my own startup to run, but the fight is still winnable! Maybe it is actually possible to get there by just plowing ahead with current practices, but there is plenty of room for improvement. Make better decisions and fill your products with: ‘Give a Damn!’” -Carmack https://twitter.com/... Maria Fernandez Guajardo / @marifes : One of my highlights at Oculus was to work with @ID_AA_Carmack . Leaving this picture here for posterity of one of our workshops. He was such a supporter of “useful VR”! w/ @isabeltewes https://twitter.com/... Drew Olanoff / @yoda : “Make better decisions and fill your products with “Give a Damn!"" - @ID_AA_Carmack https://www.businessinsider.com/ ... Kali Hays / @hayskali : @ashannstew This is but a taste of what Carmack, who is known to be outspoken, had to say: “We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort.” Alistair Barr / @alistairmbarr : If you were worried about Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse spending, you'll be freaking out when you read this memo https://www.businessinsider.com/ ... via @businessinsider @ashannstew @HaysKali Richard Lawler / @rjcc : Seeing the Meta VR platforms and the Oculus Pro, I can't imagine @ID_AA_Carmack has been happy with some of the compromises made over the last couple of years. And I don't even have to imagine, because he pretty much laid them out in November. https://www.youtube.com/... https://twitter.com/... Brad Lynch / @sadlyitsbradley : Even though he was definitely off-hands the past couple years, I still think his voice was incredibly important for Meta and is a huge blow Every Meta Connect will be 100% soulless from now on without his talks Robert Scoble / @scobleizer : Huge loss for Meta. https://twitter.com/...
I resigned from Meta, and my internal post got leaked to the press, resulting in some fragmented quotes. Here is the full thing: https://www.facebook.com/...
I find this letter from Carmack interesting in that it summarizes a sentiment I've heard from literally all of the highest impact/most effective people I've talked to at large companies: You can make a big difference, but you're constantly fighting a self-sabotaging organization …
As anyone who listens to my unscripted Connect talks knows, I have always been pretty frustrated with how things get done at FB/Meta. Everything necessary for spectacular success is right there, but it doesn't get put together effectively.
@ID_AA_Carmack, it is impossible to overstate the impact you've had on our work and the industry as a whole. Your technical prowess is widely known, but it is your relentless focus on creating value for people that we will remember most. Thank you and see you in VR.
Carmack resigned his VR position at Meta, & was already part-time focusing on his AI start-up. He was a mobile VR pioneer & a refreshing critical voice. He says, “I think our organization is operating at half the effectiveness that would make me happy.” https://www.facebook.com/.…
I thought that the “derivative of delivered value” was positive in 2021, but that it turned negative in 2022. There are good reasons to believe that it just edged back into positive territory again, but there is a notable gap between Mark Zuckerberg and I on various strategic \
Even though he was definitely off-hands the past couple years, I still think his voice was incredibly important for Meta and is a huge blow Every Meta Connect will be 100% soulless from now on without his talks
John Carmack posted his resignation from Meta, and it contains a fascinating line, one I can't stop thinking about. First he says, “We have a good product.” Then comes this: “It is successful, and successful products make the world a better place.” https://www.facebook.com/...
@ID_AA_Carmack @MorlockP Any thoughts on why hasn't meta shipped any custom silicon yet? When Apple enters the fray, their perf/watt will be hard to beat
@PrefFalsifier @MorlockP I see no reason to expect that Meta could build a better CPU/GPU than Qualcomm (at much lower volumes!), and there isn't as much opportunity for full custom special units in VR as people think. This leads people to propose lots of MR features, which are o…
I'll never understand how a company has John Carmack on staff and doesn't defer to his every suggestion. Imagine the hubris of people who think they know better than an absolute God. https://twitter.com/...
Legendary autist John Carmack just resigned from META. We are also hearing from internal employees that Zuckerberg has become even more tyrannical and is trying to pivot into the AI grift in addition to VR. Meta is not looking too hot. Good for Carmack! https://twitter.com/...
One of my highlights at Oculus was to work with @ID_AA_Carmack . Leaving this picture here for posterity of one of our workshops. He was such a supporter of “useful VR”! w/ @isabeltewes https://twitter.com/...
@ashannstew This is but a taste of what Carmack, who is known to be outspoken, had to say: “We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort.”
Carmack points out that he didn't have a sufficiently influential voice at Meta despite rank, and that caused a ton of inefficiencies. This is a common dilemma: You'd want your geniuses to be coding and making things, but you risk them being out of the loop on important decisions…
Seeing the Meta VR platforms and the Oculus Pro, I can't imagine @ID_AA_Carmack has been happy with some of the compromises made over the last couple of years. And I don't even have to imagine, because he pretty much laid them out in November. https://www.youtube.com/... https://…
“I have my own startup to run, but the fight is still winnable! Maybe it is actually possible to get there by just plowing ahead with current practices, but there is plenty of room for improvement. Make better decisions and fill your products with: ‘Give a Damn!’” -Carmack https:…
On the way out the door, John Carmack just made the exact argument by email, that if leaked to the press (as it was,) would damage Meta stock the most. I can't think of a more company damaging statement he could have made. https://www.facebook.com/... https://twitter.com/...
If you were worried about Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse spending, you'll be freaking out when you read this memo https://www.businessinsider.com/ ... via @businessinsider @ashannstew @HaysKali
@ID_AA_Carmack We, the VR community are eternally grateful for what you have done for VR with always great foresight. You were truly one of the faces of Oculus and Meta Quest. Hope you stay active in the VR scene. We love you! https://twitter.com/...
This doesn't bode well for Meta's VR division; Carmack believes Meta is best positioned to bring it to the world except that it's overstretching and poorly managed. He has been a luminary in the field and I expect he'll do well in his next endeavor. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Carmack resigns from Meta, leaves some strong but entirely fair critique/mission-calling as a parting gift. Wise words for all in VR/AR, frankly. https://twitter.com/...
Technologists of good faith and competence cannot endure watching: a large % of the *entire* US defense or health budgets spent — over *years* of effort — to produce little more than... ...legless 1992 quality avatars... viewed through a size 16 boot strapped to your face... http…
The “metaverse” is a classic case of spending money as a substitute for thinking. @JeffreyPfeffer and I wrote about this stuff in The Knowing Gap. Well-funded “urgent” projects often create giant, slow, and ineffective bureaucracies. #frictionproject https://www.nytimes.com/...
Imagine making a statement about leaving Meta because of its faults, and being so protected and insulated from backlash or personal harm of going further...only to skip over its abuses of human rights and democracies across the world, including right here at home. So brave. https…
Meta VR expert John Carmack derided the company's bureaucracy in his internal exit memo. “We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort,” he wrote in the memo, which you can read in full here: https://www.businessinsider.…
This internal goodbye note from John Carmack, who is leaving Facebook/Meta after joining Oculus in 2013, is honestly, like, damn wow. W @ashannstew https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
The best people in the world want to work hard, move fast, & ship product to change the world. Meta's Fitness is not just about the bottom line - it is about attracting, inspiring & retaining your best talent. 100x people want to win! https://medium.com/... https://twitter.com/..…