This episode offers a crucial early primer on the metaverse for ecommerce operators, clarifying its true definition beyond the hype, and outlining the immense technical and business challenges ahead. It emphasizes that the metaverse is not just VR, but the next internet evolution, presenting both significant opportunities for new ventures and risks for existing businesses if they don't understand the foundational shifts required. Operators will gain a realistic perspective on what it will take to build and participate in this new digital frontier.
Key takeaways
The metaverse is the next evolutionary internet phase, not just VR headsets; companies must understand its foundational shifts to identify new opportunities and avoid being unseated. It will require pervasive interoperability and persistent digital experiences.
Technical hurdles like massive computational power, bandwidth, and low latency are significant barriers to a fully functional metaverse, delaying widespread adoption and meaningful commerce within it.
Current "metaverse" platforms like Roblox and Fortnite are precursors, not the final vision. The true metaverse demands open standards, digital ownership, and a decentralized economic model to foster innovation and prevent walled gardens.
Major tech companies are making strategic bets, but the path is unclear. Ecommerce businesses should observe these developments closely, focusing on infrastructure and standards discussions rather than just early VR/AR applications.
The metaverse will likely impact diverse industries, including ecommerce, through virtual goods, digital real estate, and new advertising/monetization models, requiring a reimagining of current digital strategies.
All right, let’s talk about the metaverse. You probably can’t stop hearing about it. It’s in startup pitches, in earnings reports, some companies are creating metaverse divisions, and Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook’s name to Meta to signal that he’s shifting the entire company to focus on the metaverse.
The problem, very simply, is that no one knows what the metaverse is, what it’s supposed to do, or why anyone should care about it.
Luckily, we have some help. Today, I’m talking to Matthew Ball, who is the author of the new book called The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything. Matthew was the global head of strategy at Amazon Studios. In 2018, he left Amazon to become an analyst and started writing about the metaverse on his blog. He’s been writing about this since way before the hype exploded, and his book aims to be the best resource for understanding the metaverse, which he sees as the next phase of the internet. It’s not just something that you access through a VR headset, though that’s part of it. It’s how you’ll interact with everything. That sort of change is where new companies have opportunities to unseat the old guard.
This episode gets very in the weeds, but it really helped me understand the decisions some companies have made around building digital worlds and the technical challenges and business challenges that are slowing it down — or might even stop it. And, of course, I asked whether any of this is a good idea in the first place because, well, I’m not so sure. But there’s a lot here, so listen, and then you tell me.
Links:
Matthew Ball on Twitter Mark Zuckerberg on why Facebook is rebranding to Meta Microsoft, Meta, and others are founding a metaverse open standards group
Android emoji will actually look human this year
Apple’s app tracking policy reportedly cost social media platforms nearly $10 billion
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard: the latest news on the acquisition
Microsoft HoloLens boss Alex Kipman is out after miscondu
The metaverse is the next evolutionary internet phase, not just VR headsets; companies must understand its foundational shifts to identify new opportunities and avoid being unseated. It will require pervasive interoperability and persistent digital experiences.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Technical hurdles like massive computational power, bandwidth, and low latency are significant barriers to a fully functional metaverse, delaying widespread adoption and meaningful commerce within it.
What does this episode say about ai & automation?
Current "metaverse" platforms like Roblox and Fortnite are precursors, not the final vision. The true metaverse demands open standards, digital ownership, and a decentralized economic model to foster innovation and prevent walled gardens.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Major tech companies are making strategic bets, but the path is unclear. Ecommerce businesses should observe these developments closely, focusing on infrastructure and standards discussions rather than just early VR/AR applications.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
The metaverse will likely impact diverse industries, including ecommerce, through virtual goods, digital real estate, and new advertising/monetization models, requiring a reimagining of current digital strategies.
