Tripping (Over) the Rift
So, people are frothing at the mouth over the $599 price tag over the Oculus Rift, but, oddly enough, the company has reported better than expected preorder numbers for the Oculus Rift.
While I wish the Oculus Rift well, and hope this makes virtual reality take off, let me say something to everyone fainting over the price of the Oculus Rift: wait.
That's right. Wait. That's all you have to do. Historically, whenever a new technology rolls out, it will always be expensive. For example:
Initial price of a VCR in 1977 - $1,280
Initial price of a blu-ray player in 2006 - $1,000
Initial price of flat-screen TV in 1997 - $15,000
and so on.
The people who preordered the Oculus Rift? They are paying a premium for early adoption and access to this technology. You, however, can trade time for potential cash savings. In fact, given that you can get any of the aforementioned devices for only hundreds of dollars (and less), you're guaranteed savings. Also, if you wait, not only will the Rift be cheaper, but it will work better when all the bugs are ironed out.
As for the early adopters who feel that they're being cheated because they paid a larger price while everyone else got a cheaper, better product, here's an idea: stop being an early adopter.
For the record, I haven't bought anything electronic (including games) when it first came out. 2 years is my self-imposed wait period (with the exception of the Witcher 3, because, well, see my post on Apples and Oranges for the answer).
While I wish the Oculus Rift well, and hope this makes virtual reality take off, let me say something to everyone fainting over the price of the Oculus Rift: wait.
That's right. Wait. That's all you have to do. Historically, whenever a new technology rolls out, it will always be expensive. For example:
Initial price of a VCR in 1977 - $1,280
Initial price of a blu-ray player in 2006 - $1,000
Initial price of flat-screen TV in 1997 - $15,000
and so on.
The people who preordered the Oculus Rift? They are paying a premium for early adoption and access to this technology. You, however, can trade time for potential cash savings. In fact, given that you can get any of the aforementioned devices for only hundreds of dollars (and less), you're guaranteed savings. Also, if you wait, not only will the Rift be cheaper, but it will work better when all the bugs are ironed out.
As for the early adopters who feel that they're being cheated because they paid a larger price while everyone else got a cheaper, better product, here's an idea: stop being an early adopter.
For the record, I haven't bought anything electronic (including games) when it first came out. 2 years is my self-imposed wait period (with the exception of the Witcher 3, because, well, see my post on Apples and Oranges for the answer).
Comments
Post a Comment