Apple has always been seen as an innovator. However, the company has only ever offered highly polished, next-gen versions of existing tech. Smartphones existed before the iPhone, earphones existed before AirPods. But will Apple follow that trend for the upcoming wave of conflicting Metaverses? Or will Facebook succeed?
Facebook vs Apple: Metaverse War
It’s no secret that Facebook ― sorry, Meta ― is not the only company looking to create The Metaverse. Every major company, from Microsoft to Epic Games, wants to cash in on the proposed next generation of Internet.
The Facebook version is primed to come first complete with a full company rebrand. Whether or not it will succeed is up in the air ― even if its own employees are wary ― but why is being first important? Outside of building on hype, Facebook wants to control how The Metaverse handles privacy concerns.
Explained by Axios, Facebook and Apple have fought for a while over customer privacy. Apple has attempted to restrict the company’s access to iOS user data. A large number of iOS users turned off the ability for the company to track them for advertising data. This was a major blow.
Apple’s version of The Metaverse will no doubt be more accessible and enticing for its fanbase. However, if Meta comes first and is successful, then anything and everything can be tracked without Apple’s rules. Well, unless government sanctions appear down the line.
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There’s already evidence
Meta’s transparent wish to continue its controversial data harvesting has already been made apparent. Days after Facebook decreed the removal of facial recognition from its social media, it was revealed that The Metaverse will make full use of it.
The Metaverse has the potential to be the biggest source of customer data harvesting the Internet has ever seen. And there’s no way in Hell that Meta would want to give any of that up.
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