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A review by daphne_the_library_elf
The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality by Blake J. Harris
2.0
This is one of the hardest books I've read to rate. I would put it closer to 2.5 stars, but not close enough to other books I rated 3 stars to use 3 instead of 2.
I picked up this book because of both an interest in VR and its history. It wasn't anything I really knew a lot about beyond the names of the big companies, so I knew little about key players. I found the first three parts interesting, but like most of the other mixed or negative reviews I've read, my main issue was with Part IV. It feels too close to propaganda for Luckey to my taste. My main issue as I was listening to the first three parts was that there seemed to be a too-good-to-be-true narrative with Luckey. Harris really seemed to be trying a little to hard to be hammering home the "he's such a nice guy!" narrative, particularly with bits like the he-literally-gave-someone-the-shirt-of-his-back story. It seems a bit disingenuous, especially with Luckey situated firmly as the protagonist and a lot of perspectives from those who didn't directly agree throughout his time at Oculus with him not presented. You don't have to be nice to be treated unfairly, but making someone look a little too nice can cast doubt on whether they really are innocent; it makes it seem like something is missing. This makes me a little dubious that this story is the full truth, or if things were strategically left out to create a clear hero and villains. Definitely an interesting book and I'd be interested in reading more from different sources to help contextualize this one, but I just can't shake that some behavior, opposing viewpoints, or valid concerns are fully overlooked and omitted to cast Luckey as an unquestionable martyr.
I picked up this book because of both an interest in VR and its history. It wasn't anything I really knew a lot about beyond the names of the big companies, so I knew little about key players. I found the first three parts interesting, but like most of the other mixed or negative reviews I've read, my main issue was with Part IV. It feels too close to propaganda for Luckey to my taste. My main issue as I was listening to the first three parts was that there seemed to be a too-good-to-be-true narrative with Luckey. Harris really seemed to be trying a little to hard to be hammering home the "he's such a nice guy!" narrative, particularly with bits like the he-literally-gave-someone-the-shirt-of-his-back story. It seems a bit disingenuous, especially with Luckey situated firmly as the protagonist and a lot of perspectives from those who didn't directly agree throughout his time at Oculus with him not presented. You don't have to be nice to be treated unfairly, but making someone look a little too nice can cast doubt on whether they really are innocent; it makes it seem like something is missing. This makes me a little dubious that this story is the full truth, or if things were strategically left out to create a clear hero and villains. Definitely an interesting book and I'd be interested in reading more from different sources to help contextualize this one, but I just can't shake that some behavior, opposing viewpoints, or valid concerns are fully overlooked and omitted to cast Luckey as an unquestionable martyr.