Alfred Lord Tennyson 1809 – 1892
Lord Tennyson was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria’s reign.
‘Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, it will be happier.’ – Alfred Lord Tennyson
Is the Metaverse still a thing?
The metaverse is a hypothetical concept that has not yet been fully realized, but many experts and companies are working on developing it. Mark Zuckerberg is one of these ‘believers’.
Future challenge
The metaverse is quite likely to happen in the future, as technology advances and demand for immersive and interactive online experiences grows. Ai will help develop the metaverse at a greater speed.
However, there are also many challenges and uncertainties that could affect the development and adoption of the metaverse, such as interoperability, privacy, regulation, social issues, and user safety. Therefore, it is hard to predict when and how the metaverse will become a mainstream platform. Some estimates suggest that it could take another 10 to 15 years for the metaverse to reach its full potential.
What does Meta have to say about the Metaverse?
Meta and Mark Zuckerberg think that the metaverse is the next evolution of social technology and the successor to the mobile internet. They believe that the metaverse will enable people to feel present and connected with others in immersive and interactive digital spaces, where they can socialize, learn, work, play, and create. They also think that the metaverse will be a collaborative and open platform, where different companies and creators can build and interoperate with each other.
Product investment
Meta is investing heavily in developing the technologies and tools that will power the metaverse, such as virtual and augmented reality devices, software, and content.
Some of their products and initiatives include Meta Quest, Ray-Ban Stories, Horizon, Presence Platform, and Spark AR. Meta is also creating thousands of new jobs, supporting creators and developers, and building responsibly with privacy and safety in mind.
Vision
Mark Zuckerberg has shared his vision and enthusiasm for the metaverse in various interviews and events, such as the Protocol interview, Connect 2021 keynote and the Lex Fridman podcast.
He has also demonstrated some of the impressive features and capabilities of the metaverse, such as photorealistic avatars, mixed reality experiences, and NFTs. He has said that he wants Meta to be a social technology company that helps bring the metaverse to life together with the community.
Time will tell if the Metaverse really is the future. So far it has failed to fully establish the following as Facebook enjoyed in its early days.
Mark Zuckerberg and Meta will not give up and will likely make his version of the Metaverse a success, one way or another.
Congratulations to NEXT
The bumper festive period led to the High Street giant to raise its profit forecast by 5% to £960m for 2024. NEXT has about 460 outlets in the UK and Ireland.
The company also expects sales to grow by 3% in 2024/25 but warned that attacks on shipping in the Red Sea could cause delays and disruptions to its stock supply.
NEXT’s full price sales were up 5.7% in the nine weeks to 30th December, £38 million ahead of its previous guidance of 2%.
The company’s share price closed at: 8146.00 on 29th December 2023, as of 4th January 2024 the share price was: 8550.
Is this an indication of better news for the UK high street in general?
Congratulations NEXT.