Oh the metaverse. I suspect in the near future all social media platforms and gaming services will be owned by one company that controls all commerce. Initially I thought the king of the new world would be someone obvious like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk but based on my recent experiences I’ve changed my mind. Those guys have made their fortunes selling physical objects which I believe will become a relic of the past. The future is all about getting paid to create things that do not actually exist. Why would you drive a Tesla when all you want to do is put on a headset and be transported into a completely customizable fantasy realm with no physical limitations?
My first trip to the metaverse went pretty much exactly as I expected it would. After customizing my avatar I walked around a digital environment until I found some other users. The majority of the avatars I saw were very customized. So these people already spend a lot of time and money in this space. I should mention the metaverse space I was visiting had been the site of a Taco Bell sponsored wedding just days before. Now I was watching avatars play poker in a digital casino. Many of the user names involved crypto currency. There was a billboard for something called “DMT GODS.” Virtually every action I took prompted me to connect to a wallet so I didn’t do much.
Overall I was impressed with the user experience. It’s very much like a video game. I can see the appeal for folks who grew up gaming. They are accustomed to the mechanics of games, and interacting with other users in this type of environment. I’m gonna guess if you connect your wallet and start spending some cash you can have a lot of fun. A lot of people seem to be interested in the customization of digital space and avatars.
I am 40 years old. I feel rooted in the physical world and I have attachments to physical objects. The idea of spending money on a digital hat that a character on a screen can wear is ridiculous to me. That being said, I understand there are a lot of people with a lot of money, who place value on what is essentially nothing. So, I’m not above making a pixelated digital t-shirt and selling it to some guy with too much bitcoin. Maybe I’m admitting to my lack of integrity here, but I’ve never worked a job in my life that hasn’t been in service to someone richer than me, and this seems – well, easy.
Admittedly, I will probably enjoy the metaverse more and more as it grows in popularity. I held out on streaming video, I said I would never use Spotify and now I use both constantly. I’m going to try to remain open to whatever happens while maintaining my cynicism.