In his 1992 novel Snow Crash, author Neal Stephenson introduced the concept of a “metaverse” — a fantastical virtual world that felt as real and present as reality itself.

Almost three decades later, Mark Zuckerberg is dragging Stephenson’s vision into reality.

Recently, the Facebook CEO and co-founder unveiled his company’s metaverse project during a virtual conference. Reminiscent of Stephenson’s book and other sci-fi staples like Tron or Ready Player One, Zuckerberg’s metaverse was pitched as an “embodied internet” where one could play games, socialize, work and more.

“We believe the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet,” said Zuckerberg. “We’ll be able to feel present – like we’re right there with people no matter how far apart we actually are.”

During the same conference, Zuckerberg revealed Facebook’s holding company is changing its name to “Meta” to “reflect our commitment to this future,” according to Meta’s website. Notably, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other properties owned by Meta will keep their names.

Source: Toronto Daily Star

Date: November 8th, 2021

Link: https://www.thestar.com/business/technology/2021/11/03/whats-facebooks-metaverse-mark-zuckerberg-says-hes-crafting-the-future-of-the-internet-heres-why-your-datas-at-risk.html

Discussion

1. “Within the next decade, the metaverse will reach a billion people, host hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce, and support jobs for millions of creators and developers.” What sort of digital commerce might take place in the metaverse?
2. How could you be a part of the metaverse in a business-way?