Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer is joined by DICE Founder & CEO Phil Hutcheon along with Tony Fadell, Future Shape Principal, Nest Founder, and iPod inventor, as they discuss the future of consumer technology.
Video Transcript
ANDY SERWER: You were on the cutting edge in designing the iPhone, but it’s been around for a while. What do you think is the next big thing in terms of consumer tech? Thoughts on the metaverse? Those are two big questions happening right now.
TONY FADELL: Well, the big things on the horizon for consumer electronics, we’re hearing more about augmented reality, these kinds of things. We’re hearing about the metaverse. Frankly, I think we got a lot of fish to fry. And we are frying ourselves.
So I think we need to spend more time on fixing the climate than we need to worry about getting into the metaverse. So let’s make sure we have an environment we can live in before we find another environment that keeps us in refrigerated chambers so that we can breathe and eat.
So that’s how I feel about the metaverse. But on consumer electronics, I think a lot of this stuff, people think that this is going to be the next big thing like augmented reality. I think it will be for certain very niche verticals, but not necessarily the consumer thing that you need.
Because we saw this before. You got to need the technology, and then you have to understand that the consumers want it. And they want to live in that– live with these things on it. And it’s social acceptance. Not just you accepting it, but the people around you accepting it.
And that I’ve learned all the time is the technology might be right, but is the social timing right. Is there a social acceptance. And are you truly delivering a pain killer because there’s a clear need, there’s a clear pain.
The iPhone solved a need. It was on-the-go internet, email, media, these kinds of things. We don’t see the need yet for the metaverse. And then to have the metaverse wherever you go, on you, we already tried that with Google Glass. I think it’s going to take a little while.
Add Comment