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A review by ncrabb
The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality by Blak J. Harris
4.0
Blake J. Harris is a magnificent writer. How do I know that? Because his book immersed me into a world I would never have voluntarily gone without him. I'm no gamer. I have the unfortunate personality of a fizzled firework when it comes to computer gaming. I just don't do it, and I don't understand the attraction to it at all. So why would I ever read a book about a gamer? Yeah, the guy is an inventor extraordinair, he's impressive by any measure, but no way am I spending more than five minutes on the subject unless Harris is there to draw me in and keep me reading. He did those things.
I heard Harris interviewed on a radio program; he was on the same program twice as I recall. The account of his book he provided fascinated me, and I was in no way disappointed.
Palmer Luckey lived in a trailer on his parents' property as a young man. He saw no need to keep the bathroom in it, since he could walk to the house and use Mom and Dad's bathroom. So he took it out and used the space for other things. But he wasn't the unambitious leach living off the folks kind of person by any means.
Palmer believed that virtual reality, primarily well inside the realm of science fiction and big-budget military labs, could become an integral part of individual gamers' lives. He was sure he could produce headsets and other VR accessories more cheaply and reliably than had heretofore been done. This is his story--the story of a young man who saw opportunity where others saw problems and set about solving the problems and turning them into opportunities.
My only brush with Virtual Reality can be found in the Ernest Cline book. I don't understand its language or the intricacies of how it works. But this book kept me interested to the final page.
This is the sad story of a man who ultimately was muzzled by his employer. I understand why he sold his company to Facebook. Wave two billion greenbacks in my face, and I'll sell whatever they want for that. But I wondered as I read this how different things might have been had he found some other generous purchaser of his products and ideas.
I don't have a problem with Facebook firing whomever it hires. But I was unsettled and a bit creeped out by the fact that Zuckerberg apparently wrote Palmer Luckey's official denial for supporting President Trump. Just wow!
I've not done the book any favors. You'd have to read it. There's much here of high drama and a kind of exhilarating pace as Palmer takes his fledgling company from one success to another, learning all the while from his mistakes. Palmer Luckey is portrayed here in a sympathetic light, and I was more than comfortable with that.
Harris's writing was impressive. He carefully explains the methods he used to create dialogue, and those explanations went a long way to enhance his credibility with me as a reader. The book left me disturbed and unsettled and with much to think about. I'd like to hope Palmer presses forward and finds new success. He comes across in the book as someone who would be resilient and who would find new ways to succeed. I wish Palmer Luckey could apply his ability and talent to the concept of developing way-finding software for blind and visually impaired travelers. Concepts used to create such software aren't all that far from the VR stuff he already understands. But I grossly digress.
I heard Harris interviewed on a radio program; he was on the same program twice as I recall. The account of his book he provided fascinated me, and I was in no way disappointed.
Palmer Luckey lived in a trailer on his parents' property as a young man. He saw no need to keep the bathroom in it, since he could walk to the house and use Mom and Dad's bathroom. So he took it out and used the space for other things. But he wasn't the unambitious leach living off the folks kind of person by any means.
Palmer believed that virtual reality, primarily well inside the realm of science fiction and big-budget military labs, could become an integral part of individual gamers' lives. He was sure he could produce headsets and other VR accessories more cheaply and reliably than had heretofore been done. This is his story--the story of a young man who saw opportunity where others saw problems and set about solving the problems and turning them into opportunities.
My only brush with Virtual Reality can be found in the Ernest Cline book. I don't understand its language or the intricacies of how it works. But this book kept me interested to the final page.
This is the sad story of a man who ultimately was muzzled by his employer. I understand why he sold his company to Facebook. Wave two billion greenbacks in my face, and I'll sell whatever they want for that. But I wondered as I read this how different things might have been had he found some other generous purchaser of his products and ideas.
I don't have a problem with Facebook firing whomever it hires. But I was unsettled and a bit creeped out by the fact that Zuckerberg apparently wrote Palmer Luckey's official denial for supporting President Trump. Just wow!
I've not done the book any favors. You'd have to read it. There's much here of high drama and a kind of exhilarating pace as Palmer takes his fledgling company from one success to another, learning all the while from his mistakes. Palmer Luckey is portrayed here in a sympathetic light, and I was more than comfortable with that.
Harris's writing was impressive. He carefully explains the methods he used to create dialogue, and those explanations went a long way to enhance his credibility with me as a reader. The book left me disturbed and unsettled and with much to think about. I'd like to hope Palmer presses forward and finds new success. He comes across in the book as someone who would be resilient and who would find new ways to succeed. I wish Palmer Luckey could apply his ability and talent to the concept of developing way-finding software for blind and visually impaired travelers. Concepts used to create such software aren't all that far from the VR stuff he already understands. But I grossly digress.