While waiting to see what HTC had to show at this year's Paris Games Week, I got into an interesting conversation with a good PR friend of mine (not from HTC, I might add) over the pros and cons of virtual reality. He argued that, after three years of waiting around for VR headsets to see a consumer release—during which time the press has written endless articles about the latest and greatest VR experience that no one can actually try yet—everyone's burned out on the technology before it's even had a chance to prove its worth. While I don't entirely agree with him, I can see his point.
Three years is an insanely long time in tech. VR, the technology that was once new, and exciting, and potentially game-changing, has quickly become passé. That's not to say it can't still be those things, but at this point, save for strapping on their own unit, consumers (or early adopters/enthusiasts at least) know everything there is to know about VR. They know how the technology works, what kind of experiences they might have, and the pros and cons of each headset. They probably even know which one they're going to buy.
The worry, as my friend pointed out, is that when the time comes, they won't buy a headset at all. Why bother after three years of endless and unrewarding buzz about the latest and greatest bit of VR tech to emerge from Facebook, or Sony, or HTC? Why bother after being constantly told that yes, this is a first-generation product, and no, it probably won't change the world like the iPhone did? Tech manufacturers are often given a hard time for announcing a product, and then waiting upwards of six months before they actually release it. Oculus has taken over three years.
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