Tech oligarchs are encouraging the creation of virtual worlds as a cheap way to avoid problems in the real one.

  • Thordros [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    It is like imagine if Apple launched the iPhone 1 15 years ago at 1000 USD and required you to have a Mac in order to even use it, it would obviously be a massive failure.

    That's almost exactly what a 1st generation iPhone cost in 2007 if you didn't lock into a two year contract.

    • BynarsAreOk [none/use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Can't find a price without contract otherwise people say it was 499 to 599 and it was already mocked as too high, the only reason it reached 1k is because of the market share they got at one point they realized people are willing to pay much higher now that premium iPhone became a status symbol specially outside the US, that and a whole generation of fanboys who think smartphones = iPhone and can't/wont use anything else...

      • Thordros [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        It was $600 on launch day with a $300 early termination fee on the contract. Resellers were hawking them for $1k easy.