Virtual Reality Is Overhyped—Data Sheet

A few months back, Coins2Day’s Aric Jenkins published a smart take on the current state of a once heavily buzzed about tech trend. “The Fall and Rise of VR: The Struggle to Make Virtual Reality Get Real” detailed how players from Facebook to a bevy of startups had invested heavily in VR without much to show for their efforts.

There was a glimmer of hope in the article. Companies are finding specific uses for VR, particularly around training exercises. Walmart and other retailers, for example, use VR to train store employees for active shooter crises. Game makers and exhibitors continue to tinker with entertainment VR applications, with limited success.

Now comes word, via Coins2Day’s David Meyer, that the BBC is killing an ambitious VR project. The broadcaster had high hopes for the BBC VR Hub. The reason for its demise is straightforward: Neither consumers nor developers much cared. Meyer points to a number of other high-profile VR project that are ailing.

Sometimes technologies are ahead of their time. Often times, they are overhyped by someone trying to make money hyping them. Frequently, both statements are true. We’re learning every day that the top topics of conversation at gabfests like CES and Davos may benefit money-collecting chatterers without yielding true advances. Self-driving cars are further out than anyone had hoped. Businesspeople don’t really have any idea what artificial intelligence is. Cryptocurrencies are good for speculating and paying for pornography—and not much else.

And VR very likely will take years to live up to its promise.

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I couldn’t bear to read Mark Zuckerberg’s entire speech at Georgetown Thursday. (He lost me at “Hey everyone.”) But I was amused by Zuckerberg’s signature disingenuousness on the subject of China. Silicon Valley’s paragon of free speech says China’s refusal to support encryption and privacy is “one of the reasons we don’t operate Facebook, Instagram or” Facebook’s other services in China. He says he “worked hard” to find a way into China and correctly points out that the Chinese wouldn’t let Facebook operate there anyway.

That probably understates both sides of the equation. Zuckerberg famously studied Mandarin and went jogging in Beijing’s polluted streets in the name of pleasing the Chinese authorities. In hindsight, there was little he could have done that would have made a difference. If there were, it’s a fair bet he would have.

Adam Lashinsky

On Twitter: @adamlashinsky

Email: [email protected]

This edition of Data Sheet was curated by Aaron Pressman.

NEWSWORTHY

Takes one to know one. Speaking of Facebook, or former Facebookers, to be precise, co-founder Chris Hughes, who left the company in 2007, is starting a $10 million “anti-monopoly fund.” Also with backing from George Soros' Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, and the Omidyar Network, the fund will invest in research and advocacy projects to oppose big tech as well as big pharma and other highly concentrated industries. 

They paved paradise. They're not actually selling any electric cars yet, but the good folks at Ford want you to know that when they do (a sporty-looking electric crossover SUV is coming in 2020), they will also have a vast network of charging stations nationwide to rival Tesla's Supercharger network. The actual stations will be run by Greenlots and Electrify America, which also allow charging of multiple brands' vehicles, unlike Tesla.

All for the best. Maybe there was a reason room-sharing startup Airbnb decided not to go public this year. The company's net loss in the first quarter doubled to $306 million while its revenue increased 31% to $839 million.

Kinky boots. And you thought the Equifax settlement stunk? Shoe-seller Zappos will give the 24 million customers affected by its data breach...a 10% off coupon. Come to think of it, though, that could be worth more off a high-end pair of kicks than the ever-shrinking Equifax payout.

One small step for...people. As you read this, the first all-female space walk may still be ongoing. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch were scheduled to step out of the International Space Station just before 8 a.m. ET and work for five or six hours to replace a faulty battery unit. An earlier plan for a two-women space walk had to be postponed in March because of a lack of spacesuits to fit the astronauts. Check out the live feed on YouTube.

FOR YOUR WEEKEND READING PLEASURE

A few longer reads that I came across this week that may be appealing for your weekend reading pleasure:

Kevin Smith Isn’t Done Being Ridiculous Just Yet (Coins2Day)

More than a year after a near-fatal heart attack, the iconic indie filmmaker lovingly throws his backwards ball-cap in the satire ring with Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.

The Lines of Code That Changed Everything (Slate)

Apollo 11, the JPEG, the first pop-up ad, and 33 other bits of software that have transformed our world.

The Untold Story of the 2018 Olympics Cyberattack, the Most Deceptive Hack in History (Wired)

How digital detectives unraveled the mystery of Olympic Destroyer—and why the next big attack will be even harder to crack.

The Art of Sticking Around in the NBA (The Ringer)

How do you carve out a decade-long career without superstar talent? Kendrick Perkins, Jared Dudley, and a bunch of other longtime veteran players reveal their secrets to lasting in the NBA in six easy lessons.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

If you listened only to the speeches of some financial regulators and bank CEOs, you might think that the whole point of digital currencies was to facilitate crime, terrorist financing, and other bad things. According to some recent law enforcement actions, however, digital currency leaves a trail that can lead to locking up the bad guys in ways that old-fashioned cash-based crimes never did. Lily Hay Newman explains in a piece for Wired how a child-porn ring was brought down by tracing bitcoin transactions across the Internet. 

Law enforcement agents worked with the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis to map user transactions with Welcome to Video wallets and attempt to trace individuals who interacted with the site. Chainalysis says that during the three years it operated, Welcome to Video received almost $353,000 worth of bitcoin from thousands of transactions. By charting the web of Welcome to Video users' assigned wallets and the bitcoin wallets or exchanges they used, officials identified several US-based cryptocurrency exchanges that users had gone through to pay for their Welcome to Video viewing. US law requires cryptocurrency exchanges to collect customer information and verify their identities, meaning law enforcement can subpoena exchanges for these records.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Green, Nuclear and Crowdfunded: One Startup’s Unconventional Route to Building a Novel Reactor By Mark Halper

Meet the Executive Leading Facebook’s Big Augmented and Virtual Reality Push By Danielle Abril

Where Are the Boring EVs? By Andrew Moseman

TheMaven, the Media Company that Slashed Sports Illustrated, Lacks ‘Sufficient Resources’ By Scott Nover

Earnings Season Is Off to a Strong Start. Here Are This Week’s Winners and Losers By Kevin Kelleher

Plant-Based Burgers May Be on the Rise, But Meat Consumption Is Higher Than Ever By Katherine Dunn

BEFORE YOU GO

We're still debating in our house when it's appropriate to start getting excited for various holidays. August and September are too early for pre-Halloween and there's certainly no turkey talk until after the candy and costume'fest. One former marker of the arrival of fall, Starbucks's pumpkin spice latte, must be ignored this year, as it arrived a week before Labor Day. Still, no sign of fading in the pumpkin spice category, which topped $500 million this year. Have a great weekend–and maybe try a cinnamon-flavored beverage.

Aaron Pressman

On Twitter:@ampressman

Email: [email protected]

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