All I Got Were Dirty Looks & A Sore Neck

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "All I Got Were Dirty Looks & A Sore Neck" Summary

Release Date: May 15, 2025
Hosted by: Armstrong & Getty, via iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction to the Apple Vision Pro Controversy

In the episode titled "All I Got Were Dirty Looks & A Sore Neck," hosts Armstrong and Getty delve into the much-debated Apple Vision Pro, Apple's high-priced mixed reality headset. The discussion centers around the device's reception, user experiences, and its potential longevity in the market.

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The High Cost and Initial Promise of Apple Vision Pro

The conversation kicks off with a critique of the Apple Vision Pro's hefty price tag. Getty references a Wall Street Journal headline highlighting the $3,500 cost of the headset:

Getty [03:13]: "The headline in the Wall Street Journal, they paid $3,500 for Apple's Vision Pro. A year later, it still hurts."

He acknowledges the product's superior VR experience compared to competitors, stating:

Jack [03:07]: "It was the most extraordinary VR experience I've ever had by far. I mean, multiples better than anything else I'd ever tried."

Despite the high quality, Getty points out a significant issue:

Getty [03:29]: "You don't ever hear anybody talk about it. It was... super cool. Now I got other things to do."

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User Experience: Motion Sickness and Practical Limitations

A major hurdle for the Vision Pro, as discussed by the hosts, is the prevalence of motion sickness among users. Getty shares personal experiences and anecdotes from others:

Getty [04:32]: "I haven't touched it in months."

Jack [04:36]: "That's the biggest hang up to anything. VR is the motion sickness problem. Until they cure that, I don't see how it's ever going to amount to much."

Getty elaborates on his discomfort with VR-induced nausea:

Getty [05:28]: "The Simpsons ride... it made me so nauseous. I was sick the rest of the day. It was horrible."

Katie adds her perspective on losing awareness of her physical surroundings while using VR:

Katie [06:08]: "I have a real issue with having lost all control of my surroundings on, like, actual planet Earth."

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Design and Portability Issues

The hosts discuss the physical aspects of the Vision Pro that may deter potential users. Getty highlights the device's weight and bulkiness:

Jack [08:08]: "I don't think I've ever seen one human being with one of those on their face on a plane."

Katie quantifies the weight:

Katie [08:40]: "These things weigh about a pound and a half."

Getty emphasizes the inconvenience of carrying additional accessories:

Getty [09:17]: "The Vision Pro's pillow-like white protector is about a foot tall, nine inches wide, six and a half inches deep. It takes up like half the volume of my carry-on."

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Lack of Compelling Applications and Market Adoption

A critical factor in the Vision Pro's struggle is the scarcity of engaging apps. Getty contrasts its potential with the iPhone's success, which flourished due to a robust app ecosystem:

Jack [10:03]: "They didn't catch on enough that there was enough money in it for any of the big app makers to really pour a lot of R&D into making great apps."

This lack of diverse and essential applications hampers the device's utility and appeal.

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Social Perception and Public Reactions

The social stigma associated with wearing a bulky headset in public is another barrier. Getty shares stories of users receiving negative attention:

Getty [07:13]: "Buyers who wore them in the wild say they got nothing but dirty looks and sore necks."

Jack counters this by expressing indifference to others' opinions:

Jack [09:06]: "I don't give a crap if you give me a dirty look. I would never notice what you think what I'm doing is."

However, Getty underscores the practicality issues, such as the difficulty of using the device in social settings:

Getty [11:22]: "He says, if I was childless, I would own one. But I thought, okay, so I got this great. I'm going to watch. I never watch movies alone. I watch movies with my kids, so it's of no use to me whatsoever."

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Potential Use Cases vs. Reality

While the Vision Pro boasts impressive features, fitting it into daily life remains challenging. Getty explores possible applications like virtual communication and immersive media consumption:

Jack [12:08]: "I was looking at them on eBay... for 2 grand, you can get a good one that's hardly been used."

Yet, practical adoption lags as users find limited reasons to integrate the device beyond novelty.

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Final Thoughts and Future Outlook

Concluding the discussion, Armstrong and Getty express skepticism about the Vision Pro's staying power. They foresee it becoming one of those "remember when?" products rather than a mainstream staple:

Getty [12:28]: "Well, we'll see what happens, but I think this thing's going to slowly fade away. It's been one of those products we're going to look back at and go, remember when?"

Jack concurs, highlighting the gap between the Vision Pro's potential and its actual market performance:

Jack [12:38]: "Yeah, so."

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Key Takeaways

• High Cost: The Apple Vision Pro's price point of $3,500 significantly limits its accessibility and appeal.

• User Discomfort: Motion sickness and physical discomfort are prevalent issues that deter prolonged use.

• Design Flaws: The device's bulkiness and the inconvenience of carrying necessary accessories pose practical challenges.

• Limited Applications: A lack of compelling apps and use cases hinders the Vision Pro's functionality and attractiveness.

• Social Stigma: Public perception and negative attention discourage users from adopting the headset.

• Future Outlook: Hosts anticipate the Vision Pro fading into obscurity rather than achieving widespread adoption.

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Notable Quotes:

• "The mixed reality headset launched with great promise, but all these buyers got were dirty looks and sore necks." — Getty [03:13]

• "VR is the motion sickness problem. Until they cure that, I don't see how it's ever going to amount to much." — Jack [04:36]

• "Buyers who wore them in the wild say they got nothing but dirty looks and sore necks." — Getty [07:13]

• "It's been one of those products we're going to look back at and go, remember when?" — Getty [12:28]

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This episode offers a critical examination of Apple's Vision Pro, highlighting the disparity between its technological advancements and the practical, social, and economic barriers preventing mainstream success. Armstrong and Getty provide listeners with insightful perspectives on the challenges facing mixed reality devices in today's market.

Transcript

[Jack]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.

[Ryan]

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[Ryan]

All I got was dirty looks and a sore neck. I don't need that. It's one more thing.

[Jack]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Ryan]

One more thing.

[Jack]

Hard to imagine where this is going.

[Ryan]

One of the great companies of the world, Apple, with one of the great fails that nobody really talks about anymore. But Jack, it probably still stings you a little bit, the $3,500 Vision Pro.

[Jack]

Why does it sting me?

[Ryan]

VR thing. Did you buy that one?

[Jack]

I bought one for someone.

[Ryan]

Oh, okay.

[Jack]

As a gift.

[Ryan]

So the headline in the Wall street journal, they paid $3,500 for Apple's vision Pro. A year later, it still hurts. The mixed reality headset launched with great promise, but all these buyers got were dirty looks and sore necks. I don' yeah, it.

[Jack]

You don't ever hear anybody talk about it. It was the most extraordinary VR experience I've ever had by far. I mean, multiples better than anything else I'd ever tried. The problem still exists of, okay, that is really, really super cool. Now I got other things to do. I mean, there's just.

[Ryan]

Yeah. And I don't think anybody. I had a VR experience in the station that was a fraction the quality of what you've described from the Vision Pro and found it just astounding and interesting. And I thought, I've got to get one of these systems. One of these days I'm going to get one of these systems. And I never did. Right. And I just think the staying power or the power to continue to amuse or use it isn't what all of us imagined it would be.

[Jack]

Yeah. So, Katie, ever done one of these.

[Ryan]

Just out of curiosity?

[Katie]

Yeah, I have the. I have the meta quest.

[Jack]

Yeah. My kids. My kids use that occasionally, but not near as much as you'd think they would. Not as much as you think they would.

[Katie]

I haven't touched it in months.

[Jack]

Yeah, that's the problem with all that's. Do you get motion sickness?

[Katie]

No, I get headaches, though.

[Jack]

Okay, well, similar sort of thing then. That's my number one. I would probably own the Apple Vision Pro if I didn't get motion sickness. I would use it for. I mean, like for watching movies. Even if you just use it for your Apple TV and you're watching 4K and the biggest screen you've ever seen in your life, it's fantastic. Or anything like that. But I get. I get motion sickness so bad. Like a third to half of people do. That's the biggest hang up to anything. VR is the motion sickness problem. Until they cure that, I don't see how it's ever going to amount to much.

[Ryan]

I was sure I was going to have that problem when we did the demonstration of the station, but I didn't, to my surprise.

[Jack]

Oh, my God.

[Ryan]

You know, I can't. I can't ride the damn teacups at Disneyland because any, any, like, weird visual stuff goes on. I'm incomplete. Pass out and puke mode.

[Jack]

That's interesting.

[Ryan]

Bother me.

[Jack]

It's interesting that the actual physical thing gives you that, because I don't get that. But I do from the. The eye stuff. And like, I did the ride at Universal Studios, the Simpsons ride, which is all a fake roller coaster. You sit in a little thing, you put on the reality vision thing, and it's really, really cool. But it made me so nauseous. I was sick the rest of the day. It was horrible.

[Katie]

I took a little bit of an issue and with the quest, I had the little headset that you put in so you get like the full immersed. I had a real issue with having lost all control of my surroundings on, like, actual planet Earth.

[Jack]

Oh, really?

[Katie]

Yeah. I don't know. Something really bothered me that, like, if somebody walked into my house, I was rummaging through my stuff. I would have zero idea because I have this thing strapped to my forehead.

[Jack]

Yeah, there is a little bit of that.

[Katie]

Yeah.

[Jack]

I did a VR thing in LA one time. I don't remember. It was where you. You walked around with dinosaurs. It was just stunning.

[Ryan]

Cool.

[Jack]

Absolutely stunning. I would the experience of sitting by a lake with the Apple Vision Quest on my head or the Apple Vision Pro on my head. I can still remember. I can still almost feel when I think about it. It was so amazing. It was actually like being next to a lake. That experience was so fantastic. I could see why you'd want to do that on a regular basis. But it's pretty, pretty expensive.

[Ryan]

So this one dude couldn't. In the article, he's a realtor. He's got them realtor eyes. Yeah. He says of your watching movies and stuff. He says, oh, I guess he's talking about using it for work. But he said it's way too heavy. I can't wear it for more than 20 or 30 minutes without it hurting my neck.

[Jack]

Yeah. I was thinking if I'd watch movies, I just lay in bed on my back looking straight up. That'd be pretty comfortable.

[Ryan]

Oh, wait a minute. Buyers who wore them in the wild say they got nothing but dirty looks. And sore necks. Now the devices are daily reminders of their misplaced bravado.

[Katie]

Who was going out in public wearing one of those?

[Jack]

Yeah, well that was the original idea.

[Ryan]

You don't have to look at it. You look through it. Give VR assistance everywhere you go.

[Katie]

I want to live in that world.

[Jack]

I don't either. The, I think the heaviness. Well, so in. I don't do computer stuff, but if you have a job where you do computer stuff, you can have everything up on your screen in front of you. You can have multiple screens. You move it around with your eyes, your hands, or you look at things and you click with your fingers. I mean it's, it's pretty cool. But apparently it's not cool enough to make people who do a lot of work on computers rather do that than sit in front of their screens in their office. Yeah, Michael.

[Ryan]

No, it's just been my experience that any of these products over the years involves you putting something on your head. Whether it's 3D glasses for TV. I remember a couple years ago was supposed to be big.

[Jack]

Yeah, maybe people just, they don't like it. Except the idea of putting something on your head. I thought the Apple Vision Pro might catch on with people who are pretty frequent travelers. You aren't just watch looking at your phone to watch a movie. You're taking in like the greatest IMAX theater sitting in the seat of your plane. But I don't think I've ever seen one human being with one of those on their face on a plane.

[Katie]

No. And according to the Google, these things weigh about a pound and a half. So if you think about that amount of weight when you're trying to move your neck around and stuff that kind of residual pull, I could see how that can start messing things up if you wear it too much.

[Ryan]

Well, that's funny you should bring that up, Jack. The next thing they talk about is this one dude who takes his Vision Pro on flights to watch movies. I get pretty dirty looks from people. I don't need that. He says. But then funny people care about that.

[Jack]

I don't give a crap if you give me a dirty look. I would never notice what you think what I'm doing is. I can't even imagine caring.

[Ryan]

But another reason the 35 year old stopped flying with it, the size of the case.

[Jack]

Yeah.

[Ryan]

Sold separately for 199 bucks. The vision Pros pillow like white protector is about a foot tall, nine inches wide, six and a half inches deep. Quote, it takes up like half the volume of my Carry on.

[Jack]

Yeah, it's a. It's a fair amount of equipment you got to carry with this because the Battery, to have 4K at that, I mean, to have that level of graphics takes a pretty powerful battery to be able to do it for any length of time. And you got to carry that around with you.

[Ryan]

Yeah. Interesting. So I'm looking at ebay and here's one for two grand. 2,420 600 2900. Oh, here's one for 256 gigabytes and accessories. Does that matter, Jack? The number of gigs.

[Jack]

We don't need to worry about the gigabytes. No, not yet anyway.

[Ryan]

1800 and 1900 years. One for 16, 25 bucks.

[Jack]

That's about. Yeah, because I was looking at them at that Longo. A couple grand will get you a good one that's hardly been used. If you want to try it out, the. They make one that's a terabyte or whatever. You just don't. You don't need that much. It doesn't do you any good.

[Ryan]

Okay, interesting. You know, for. For 1600 bucks, I guess I could see it. Can you like, can you like, tour Great. The great cities of the world, do they have that sort of.

[Jack]

There are a few things like that. That is one of the drawbacks. I've done a lot of reading about this because I almost bought one for myself. The big hold up is apps. It didn't catch on enough that there was enough money in it for any of the big app makers to really pour a lot of R and D into making great apps. Like happened with the iPhone. IPhone shows up, and then all of a sudden they realize, wow, this is a great opportunity. We should, you know, do everything we can to come up with an app people love. That has not happened with the Apple Vision Pro. So they're just. Since it's been out a couple of years, there haven't been many great apps come along. Well, really hardly any.

[Ryan]

Wow. Wow. Here's this one guy, an Apple super fan who thought the Vision Pro could be the next iPhone. He flew to New York from Israel last year to be one of the first people to buy the headset at the store. He met Tim Cook and got him to sign the back of his iPhone and his Vision Pro's box.

[Jack]

It's incredibly impressive. Just got to figure out what would I use this for when. If you haven't done the demo, it's really easy to set one up at an Apple Store. You know, you're at the. Gonna be at the mall, set one up, go in there and they'll demonstrate it for you.

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[Jack]

It's stunning.

[Ryan]

He says he doesn't regret the purchase. He still loves watching movies with his vision Pro, especially 3D films like the recent Metallica, sold as an immersive experience to the heavy metal band. Stadium filling live shows. Feels like you're at the concert.

[Jack]

He says, if I was childless, I would own one. But I thought, okay, so I got this great. I'm going to watch. I never watch movies alone. I watch movies with my kids, so it's of no use to me whatsoever.

[Katie]

Sitting in the living room with your kids. Oh, guys, you should see this.

[Jack]

Too bad you can't watch this great movie I'm watching while you sit and stare at your dad on a Friday night.

[Ryan]

Or the three can sit there each wearing a $3,500 spend ten grand.

[Jack]

Exactly.

[Ryan]

Yeah.

[Jack]

That was the other thing that they thought might catch on is that like you have one on here and your daughter in another town has it on and you communicate that way with your avatar.

[Ryan]

But it sounds great.

[Jack]

It sounds great, but people don't seem to be doing it.

[Ryan]

Go figure. Well, we'll see what happens, but I think this thing's going to slowly fade away. It's been one of those products we're going to look back at and go, remember when?

[Jack]

Yeah, so.

[Ryan]

Well, I guess that's it.

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[Katie]

Lenovo.

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[Jack]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.