Many companies are claiming to be a Metaverse company. In reality, they are not. They are simply using this term as a marketing buzzword. Frankly, the Metaverse doesn’t exist yet.
This hype is similar to previous technology hypes. A few years ago, many companies claimed to be blockchain companies, then came the AI companies, cloud-based companies, and now the Metaverse companies.
If we grasp the whole concept of the Metaverse, it will become apparent to us that Metaverse doesn’t exist, and those who are claiming to be a Metaverse company are either ignorant or willfully misleading us.
In this article, we will explain the idea of the Metaverse through the concept of Email.
In the early days of the internet, there were various Email services. However, the problem was that each one of these Email services was isolated, similar to today’s different chatting apps. Even today, we can’t send a message from Meta (Facebook) Messenger to Google Duo.
In the early days, it was impossible to send Emails from one service provider to another. Interoperability, such as sending Emails from Yahoo to Hotmail addresses, came later.
Similarly, In the early days of cellphone service, sending SMS between service providers such as T-Mobile and Verizon was impossible. Interoperability came later.
Similarly, nowadays, we have numerous 3D virtual worlds – Roblox, Second Life, Fortnite, Microsoft Mesh, Horizon World (Facebook), VRChat, etc. But each one of these virtual worlds works in isolation. They are not interconnected, nor do they have interoperability.
The Metaverse will not exist until all these virtual worlds connect and bring interoperability between them. Numerous companies can create countless virtual worlds, but there can be only one Metaverse.
The concept of interoperability of Metaverse worlds is straightforward. When the Metaverse becomes a reality, we can take a digital asset from one virtual world (for example, Roblox) to another virtual world (for example, Facebook’s Horizon World).
Moreover, no company can prevent us from accessing the Metaverse from any device. A user should be able to access it through any device such as AR, VR, mobile, game console, PC, TV, etc. However, it’s not possible today. For example, we can only access Facebook’s Horizon World through Oculus Quest.
Every virtual world that exists today is a walled garden. It can’t be accessed without the company’s approved devices, they are not interoperable, and they are not interconnected. Thus, no Metaverse exists today.
Our understanding is that Metaverse will not become a reality anytime soon. Here are a few reasons.
In the corporate world, executives want to make maximum profit. To make more profit, they routinely stifle their competition in various ways.
For example, transferring data – photos, documents, videos – between iPhones is easy. However, it’s a somewhat lengthy process to share pictures or videos between an iPhone and android phone. Apple intentionally makes it more complicated.
Every company that wants to be a part of the Metaverse will try to maximize its profitability. This mentality will harm this Metaverse movement. Here’s a real-world example.
It’s now proven that Facebook’s (now Meta) main intention is to keep its users on its platform as long as possible. They don’t want their users to click something and go to another website or app. It’s why nowadays, all the webpage links open in a new window inside Facebook.
Moreover, Facebook (now Meta) doesn’t give exposure to those posts that contain a link to an external website.
A company (for example, Facebook or Meta) that actively acted in bad faith previously will not change its behavior. Thus, even if they participate in the Metaverse, they will try to stifle its competitor.
However, cryptocurrency will make interoperability between these virtual worlds easy in a slightly different way.
In the real world, we can’t take our homes or lands when we move from one country to another. However, we can sell our property in the original country and take our money during immigration.
We can consider each virtual world – Horizon world, Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft, Second Life – a nation. Even if these companies do not allow us to transfer our digital assets from one platform to another, they should enable us to sell the asset and transfer the money in cryptocurrency to another platform. Then we will use our transferred money to purchase similar digital assets.
In conclusion, right now, Metaverse doesn’t exist. However, when the Metaverse comes into existence, companies may try to stifle competition.
