Meta Is Still Betting on a VR Revolution That May Never Come

Lauren Goode: That’s actually why Mark Zuckerberg changed the company name.

Steven Levy: Yeah, yeah. But also, I wrote a story about virtual reality for Rolling Stone in 1990.

Lauren Goode: What?

Steven Levy: It was the next big thing.

Lauren Goode: What headset were you using?

Steven Levy: I used Gyrolinear headset, and then I went to NASA. They had a thing set up there, with … They called it the Sword of Damocles, because the wire came from the ceiling.

Lauren Goode: And at the time, what sort of prediction, what sort of timeline were people giving for when that was going to become the next big thing?

Steven Levy: Fewer than 30 years.

Lauren Goode: And you said that was in the ’90s?

Steven Levy: 1990.

Lauren Goode: Oh, all right. Well, we’ve surpassed that.

Steven Levy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no. It was fascinating, because everyone thought it’s the next big thing. However, I chose not to write a book about it. I thought that was a good thing. Instead, I wrote a book called Artificial Life, right? Which, that hasn’t happened yet either, but it might.

Lauren Goode: Also, you wrote a book about crypto.

Steven Levy: Yeah, I did. Yeah.

Lauren Goode: Yeah. I guess that’s happened, but—

Steven Levy: That’s happened.

Lauren Goode: It’s happened.

Steven Levy: The stuff I wrote in that book, there it is, right?

Lauren Goode: Yeah, yeah. The market’s a little volatile, but it is in fact here. All right, so this has basically just become a podcast where we talk about Steven Levy’s books.

Steven Levy: I love it.

Lauren Goode: Thank you so much for joining us. We’re going to take another quick break, and when we come back, we’re going to offer our recommendations for the other Steven Levy books that you haven’t read yet. We’ll be right back.

[Break]

Lauren Goode: Steven, what is your recommendation this week?

Steven Levy: I’m going to recommend a play.

Lauren Goode: Oh, OK.

Steven Levy: It’s called Leopoldstadt. It’s by Tom Stoppard, who is one of my favorite playwrights. It was supposed to debut on Broadway in the spring of 2020. Circumstances led it to a later debut, but it’s a fascinating play. Prime Stoppard. Maybe not quite as good as Arcadia, but it follows the fortunes, and particularly the tragic misfortunes, of a Jewish family assimilated in Vienna beginning in 1899 and continuing through the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust.

Lauren Goode: And where can people see this?

Steven Levy: They can see it on Broadway in New York City, and if you’re in town, like you are now, I suggest you make it over to the theater to watch this really affecting play, with all the wordplay and fun. You know, there is a little fun in there, weirdly. But mostly tragedy, of Tom Stoppard, and what might be his last great play.

Source