Why is the Metaverse such a big deal?

On 29th of October 2021 Mark Zuckerberg made a stunning announcement that Facebook will now be called meta. As soon as this announcement happened the press went crazy, social media was on fire. And the world finally realized that the next big thing in tech has actually arrived. Just as we were trying to sing this in. Mr. Satya Nadella presented Microsoft’s version of the metaverse. The Nike has already registered its assets for the metaverse. And H&N has already opened a store in the metaverse. All of this reinforced the fact that metaverse is not just a fancy sci-fi looking concept but literally the next version of the internet itself.

While most of us only know that it’s the next big thing very few of us know why exactly is the meta was important. We are going to cover the important points today.

Why is the Metaverse such a big deal?

I’m sure you already know what metaverse is? it is a virtual world wherein just like you and I can talk to anyone. Like as on Facebook even if that person is on the other side of the globe, we can just easily connect with them. In the metaverse you can go one step ahead. You can Literally interact with that person, laugh with that person, and even go coffee with them in the virtual world. As if you’re actually meeting them. Furthermore, because of this virtual world just like we have these amazing game worlds like GTA Witcher and Fortnite. You can literally travel to these fascinating places and have a fantastic virtual experience with your friends.

Doesn’t this all seem unreal?

Now the question over here is doesn’t this all seem unreal? I mean they say that you have to wear this giant box on your head to get into the metaverse. This box if it’s oculus will first of all cost you 37000 rupees on top of that you need to hold something in your hands all the time. And most importantly with the current internet bandwidth. it’s not even possible to use the metaverse.

Then the question is why are companies like Nike and HRM so aggressively trying to embrace something that cannot even be used by most people? Well, the simplest analogy to understand. this would be to understand the evolution of Spotify and how accurately they chose to enter India only after 2019. So, if you take a step back and look at music streaming as a service. it is accessible to the people only when there are four entities that are aligned and functional.

1. First one is the technology to use the service which is earphones and wireless earphones.
2. Number two is the network to connect to the service which is the internet.
3. And Number three is a service platform which is Spotify.

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Then we’ve got creators like Jorgen and ED Sharon, who create music and podcast episodes that we can listen to. So, if Spotify had come to India in 2014. Everybody would have called it crazy. First of all, why would you pay to listen to music when you can just download it for free. Secondly with 180 rupees per GB of internet cost. Who had the data pack to keep playing music all the time and thirdly wireless earphones were extremely costly back then. So, although we had musicians and services. The scope of listening to music and the technology to access the service was not that cheap and that accessible. But then as time passed four things happened.

Why is the Metaverse such a big deal?

The cost of internet dropped drastically. The speed of the internet picked up drastically. Wireless earphones became extremely cheap and most importantly because of cheap internet our priorities changed from data cost to memory allocation. Hence streaming became viable and desirable as a service. This is how when three variables that is technology of access, technology of connectivity and Creators came on put together Spotify as a service became relevant in the Indian market.

Learn more about Metaverse from Wikipedia

If you watch metaverse closely it’s on a very similar terminology. Even here instead of Spotify as a service. We have services like Facebook meta or Nvidia’s Omniverse which are metaverse services. The technology to access the service is a gadget like oculus. Which is extremely costly at the moment just like Joe Rogan and ED Sharon. We have creators in the metaverse which includes companies that will design worlds maps objects and games for the metaverse.  

Lastly, we have the internet speed that needs to be at least 120 to 150 Mbps to be able to access the meta world. Seriously, this is where you need to trace the terminology of these variables in the future. If you look at the past five years, the cost of oculus has gone down from 599 dollars to 299. The average speed of the internet is about to touch 120 Mbps by 2025 and by the time both these things happen.

The developers and companies will have enough products and services in the Metaverse that can be utilized by people like you and me. It’s very similar to the app store or play store that is as time passes more and more developers make more apps. That get better over time eventually it increases the utility value of the service. This is how as time passes and these variables will make the market and tech both viable and conducive.

Read a book: The Metaverse: And How it Will Revolutionize Everything https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09KMWYHX8/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_DFSHJTHQ20CR1N7VH1Z6