Speed and efficiency will always prevail
Online shopping is, to a reasonably consistent degree, as much about reducing friction as it is about innovation in experience. Can a 3D experience – however rich – be as appealing as a seamless single click and voilà? Waltzing around a virtual shop sounds exciting, but doing it weekly to stick the family shop in a basket? Not really. Even with consumers spending more time online than ever, efficiency remains the boss.
No one quite knows what the metaverse will be like
As much as we might enjoy dreaming about the possibilities in this magical avatar-filled world, we still don’t know quite what we’re building, do we? The hype is redirecting us (along with billions of pounds in investment) to the next shiny object rather than fixing some of technology’s biggest challenges. Are we prepared to properly tackle abuse, privacy concerns and other regulations in the metaverse? We can’t even get that sorted out in our current digital landscape, let alone in the metaverse.
Are we sure we really want it?
If Zoom fatigue was too much to handle, you can only imagine what a VR office party will feel like once the novelty wears off. At least Zoom allowed us to put the unruly drunk guest on mute instead of frantically simulating a drunk shouting in my ear. On top of that, the Internet already brings out the worst in people – will the metaverse make it any better?