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Lessons From the Catastrophic Failure of the Metaverse

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Summary

The Metaverse, a virtual reality platform, was hyped up by major architects, investors, and tech industry leaders as being worth trillions of dollars. However, it ended up being an utter failure, with only 38 active daily users and a total revenue of $470. This failure should serve as a wake-up call to the architecture industry, which often latches onto tech industry trends in search of quick press releases. Architecture should be aware of the tech industry's hostility toward the creative process and should not be drawn in by its promises of disruption.

Q&As

What was the Metaverse, and why was it destined to fail?
The Metaverse was a brand name for an open-world virtual reality platform and associated projects under the aegis of Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. It was destined to fail because it was never clear what the whole enterprise was for except being the future of the Internet and a kind of vague hanging out.

What did the "creative class" learn from buying into this product?
The "creative class" learned that they should be more cautious when buying into products that are obviously destined to flop.

What was the predicted value of the Metaverse?
McKinsey claimed that the Metaverse would bring businesses $5 trillion in value, while Citi valued it at no less than $13 trillion.

How many active daily users did the largest Metaverse platform have?
The largest Metaverse platform, Decentraland, had only 38 active daily users.

What is the practice of "PRchitecture" and why is it dangerous?
"PRchitecture" is the practice of creating content (images, renderings, 3D cities, etc.) and attaching it to whatever the issue or product du jour is in order to gain notoriety. It is dangerous because it does not require making buildings or theory, the two central pillars of architectural production for millennia, and it can lead to the field of architecture being tied to ridiculous fads.

AI Comments

👍 This article presents a well-researched and comprehensive overview of the failure of the Metaverse, and provides an insightful analysis of the implications for the architecture profession.

👎 The author makes sweeping generalizations about the tech industry and fails to provide meaningful solutions to the problem they have identified.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about the catastrophic failure of the Metaverse, and it talks about how the so-called "creative class" jumped on the bandwagon of this tech trend without really understanding what the Metaverse was for or what it could potentially offer. It ended up costing people their jobs and investors their money, and it was a huge embarrassment for the architecture profession.

Friend: Wow, that's really sad. It's a good reminder to be careful when jumping on the latest trends without understanding the implications of being part of something like this.

Me: Absolutely. It's important to do our research and think things through before investing in any new technology. The article also talks about the growing trend of "PRchitecture" where architects latch onto the latest tech trends for the sake of attention rather than creating something of lasting value. It's important to keep in mind that the tech industry is not necessarily our friend and can be hostile to the creative process.

Action items

Research the current trends in the tech industry and be aware of the potential for hype bubbles and scams.
Consider the labor implications of AI and other technologies when engaging with the tech industry.
Refrain from jumping on the bandwagon of the latest tech trends without considering the potential consequences.

Technical terms

Metaverse: A brand name for the open-world virtual reality platform and associated projects under the aegis of Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta.
Virtual Cities: Virtual spaces created by architects to be funded with cryptocurrency and supplied with art (NFTs).
Successor to the Mobile Internet: A term used to describe the Metaverse platform.
NFTs: Non-fungible tokens, a type of cryptocurrency used to purchase virtual art.
Horizon Worlds: Meta’s flagship product.
Roblox: A controversial monetized game-design platform.
Minecraft: An open world building video game.
Fortnite: A player-versus-player combat game with a great deal of customization.
PRchitecture: A practice of creating content (images, renderings, etc.) to attach to whatever the issue or product du jour is.