News - Facebook says the Oculus Rift will be priced as low as possible

[HEXUS]

It is aiming for a 2015 consumer release and to possibly sell the headset at cost.

Read more.

[dfour]

stop teasing and just take my money

[DemonHighwayman]

"the lowest cost possible"

So we can probably expect some targeted advertising after all, just like everyone predicted !

[jimbouk]

"we don’t have to worry about making money from our customers right away" - so how are Facebook going to monetize the Rift once it's plugged into everyone computers and the internet???

[crossy]

"we don’t have to worry about making money from our customers right away" - so how are Facebook going to monetize the Rift once it's plugged into everyone computers and the internet???

I think your fellow Hexus dweller answered that one.

So we can probably expect some targeted advertising after all, just like everyone predicted !

Me, I think I'll give it a pass unless there's a VERY compelling title out there - especially if, as stated in the article the "V2" one is going to be better.

Unless it needs some kind of Facebook involvement, (e.g. registration with FB to be able to use it properly), in which case it's a "no sale".

[zaph0d]

Didn't a computer maker in the 80's go bust after announcing that "The next model is gonna be twice as powerful and cost half as much"?
They're running the risk that the V1 headset won't sell much as most would be waiting for the V2 and if there's insufficient sales of the V1 Farcebook might can the V2 due to lack of interest.

[MrRockliffe]

Rubbish. Google don't sell their nexus line up near cost (closer than other companies yes) - the One Plus One is. Not nexus though. They still make a nice profit by cheaping out on some features, such as camera.

[Funkstar]

...especially if, as stated in the article the "V2" one is going to be better.

Well of course v2 will be better, a new version is always better. I'd guess at something like four major revisions for the technology to settle down, after that there won't be as much of a reason to upgrade.

Unless it needs some kind of Facebook involvement, (e.g. registration with FB to be able to use it properly)

Just bare in mind, there is facebook the site and Facebook the company, Mark Zuckerberg is very keen to stress that they are two entirely different things these days. Just because FB Co. buys a startup doesn't mean FB.com will adopt the tech or it will end up anything to do with social networking.

Didn't a computer maker in the 80's go bust after announcing that "The next model is gonna be twice as powerful and cost half as much"?
They're running the risk that the V1 headset won't sell much as most would be waiting for the V2 and if there's insufficient sales of the V1 Farcebook might can the V2 due to lack of interest.

Indeed, but they will be well aware of this. They probably don't care about making money from the first couple of versions, until it is ready for main stream use. Similar to Google Glass. Get it out there, get people talking about it, get developers working on it, then get the revenue going.

[Percy1983]

I have to agree the facebook thing is a good thing, I was initially worried but the more I look at it the more it makes sense.

Selling at cost could work, the more you get out there the more people will want them, who is to say they can't keep the cost the same as manufacturing gets cheaper and make a profit later.

I keep resisting the dev kits as I know the the retail kit will be spot on. Looking forward to this.

[crossy]

(Unless it needs some kind of Facebook involvement, (e.g. registration with FB to be able to use it properly)
Just bare in mind, there is facebook the site and Facebook the company, Mark Zuckerberg is very keen to stress that they are two entirely different things these days. Just because FB Co. buys a startup doesn't mean FB.com will adopt the tech or it will end up anything to do with social networking.

I'm judging on past performance - Facebook (the network) is Facebook (the companies) primary product. So acquisitions have invariably ended up being incorporated. And unless Oculus is going to be completely "hands off" then there's surely going to be a strong desire to link it in with their primary product. Or put another way, use Oculus bait to draw in Facebook refuseniks like me.

I'm fine with having it branded as "Facebook Occulus", or even having a little tick box on the installer that says "Link this with my Facebook account". On the other hand if it says "Register with Facebook to be able to update the driver software for this product" or similar then they can take it and stuff it.

Yes, I know, I'm grumpy this morning.

[ShiftyStu]

Still can't figure out why facebook bought it. Seems like there are better ways to spend their money. First-person facebook doesn't sound as good as minecraft would of been...

[Noxvayl]

Facebook bought the Oculus Rift because it is the most advanced virtual reality (VR) headset at the moment and has some amazing talent working with it. Their aim might be to include something to do with VR in the facebook service but that is by no means the sole purpose.

I had my eyes opened today with Oculus as a possible tool for engineers to use for demonstrating designs to clients and the general public that needs to be sold on a new large scale project being developed near by. At the moment it costs hundreds of thousands of pounds to produce drawings in computer aided design (CAD) software and when those drawings are shown to clients and the general public it takes a great deal of effort to give them an understanding of the project because those drawings are not easy to understand. On the other hand everyone, even a kid in Africa, understands 3d. We live in 3d, you understand how to move arms and legs in 3d as a child. It is the closest thing we have to a universal language that transcends cultures. If you show someone a 3d picture of anything they get an instant understanding of the scale of what you have shown them and the position it occupies in relation to what is already there.

Think about how you enjoy a game, is there anything to do with the world that you need help figuring out when it comes to the 3d landscape? For me there is nothing because I automatically understand that if I look down and the ground slopes away that it will be easier to walk down that slope than to walk up it. That is a very simple thing to do in a game, just look down. Now imagine trying to explain that concept of a slope with 2d drawings; you need to use some sort of icon to demonstrate that there is a slope and then after that you need to give some numbers to illustrate the steepness of the slope. If you look at that information and don't understand what the icon means you can't figure out what the image is telling you, but the 3d image of the slope instantly told you all that information without you having to read it and translate icons and language into the concept of slope in your brain, it is automatically there.

I take my hat off to facebook for this acquisition. They are thinking forward with regards to it and I would be very surprised if in 20 years we still use 2d CAD software. 3D CAD software with the ability to put a person in the middle of a prosposed design, no matter what design that is, provides significant benefits to understanding and with that makes work easier when implementing that design and the task of teaching or explaining the design so much quicker because the language of 2d drawings would not need to be consulted first.

I've seen the Oculus Rift first hand and I think facebook got an absolute bargain when they bought that technology and team.

[gregzeng]

There are so many competitive products. They'll be forced to lower their profit margins, and partner with other big content publishers now. I'll wait to see what the competition is first.