Enter the metaverse!

Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook’s name to Meta last week – and launched a vision for his company that he claims will transform the way we interact with the internet and each other. So what exactly is the metaverse? And will it ever leave the realm of science fiction?When Facebook scheduled a major announcement for last week, news quickly got out that Mark Zuckerberg was planning to change the company’s name – and that he would explain how Facebook would move towards its next incarnation, the “metaverse”. But few expected he would set out a vision with such far-off ambitions – and show so little evidence of what it is doing today to get there. Zuckerberg’s presentation was derided in some quarters as wooden, narcissistic, dystopian, and unintentionally hilarious. But it was also a vastly ambitious and risky pitch for how the company will leave its present-day brand and focus behind to re-emerge as the leading player in a version of the internet that doesn’t exist today.So what exactly is the metaverse? What is the business case for Facebook’s pivot to such an undeveloped and complex technology? And how much was the decision to rebrand as Meta driven by the toxification of Facebook’s brand by months of damaging leaks from the US whistleblower Frances Haugen? In this episode, Nosheen Iqbal is joined by the Guardian’s UK technology editor, Alex Hern, who explains what we already know about the metaverse, its origins in science fiction stories, and its likely real-world... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-11-04 03:00:23 UTC ]

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Ann Leckie wins top sci-fi award for debut novel 'Ancillary Justice'

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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Baen Beams at 30

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mad Men’s Harry Hamlin Compares Ray Donovan to Sex

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[ AdWeek | 2014-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HMH Adds SF & Fantasy to 'Best American' Series

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kensington Buys Digital Pub, Lyrical Press

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Science Fiction Bestows Freedom on North Korean Writers

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nicola Griffith discusses 'Hild,' the girl who would be saint

Nicola Griffith's radical departure from her previous fiction results in the 7th century epic 'Hild.'Author Nicola Griffith is as unpredictable and fascinating as one of her heroines. Her first two novels, "Ammonite" and "Slow River" (which won a Nebula Award), were science fiction. And from... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Back To The (Sustainable) Future: The Year 2050 In Words And Pictures

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[ Fast Company | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jack Vance, prolific, prize-winning pulp author, dies at 96

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon expands into SF publishing

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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