Tootfinder

from my link log —
The metaverse: Neal Stephenson’s prodigal brainchild.
https://nealstephenson.substack.com/p/my-prodigal-brainchild
saved 2026-03-25

My Prodigal Brainchild
Reflections on the latest and greatest Death of the Metaverse

The People Left Behind by the Metaverse https://www.404media.co/the-people-left-behind-by-the-metaverse/

Neal Stephenson says he no longer believes head-mounted displays are the future, citing public discomfort with the devices and a general distrust of the users (Neal Stephenson/Graphomane)
https://nealstephenson.substack.com/p/my-prodigal-brainchild

My Prodigal Brainchild
Reflections on the latest and greatest Death of the Metaverse

A Western Sydney council, Fairfield City, has been completely pwned by ransomware. It has been granted an injunction to stop people publishing stolen data, as well as a suppression order over details, including the council's communications with the hackers.
https://

Meta's Metaverse is dead, Western Sydney city council hacked and satellite image providers pressured
Plus: Kagi will translate LinkedIn speak, or Australian, or, really, anything

> I would ask the rhetorical question: “do you really think that twenty years from now everyone is still going to be going around all day staring at little rectangles in their hands?” At the time it seemed obvious to me that the answer was no.
> Reader, I have changed my mind.
https://nealstephens…

My Prodigal Brainchild
Reflections on the latest and greatest Death of the Metaverse

Podcast: The Company Secretly Turning Your Zoom Meetings into Podcasts https://www.404media.co/podcast-the-company-secretly-turning-your-zoom-meetings-into-podcasts/

Reality Labs lost $80B , but it still makes all of Meta's hardware, and reflects Mark Zuckerberg's desire to run a business without Google or Apple as middlemen (Peter Kafka/Business Insider)
https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-mark-zuckerber…

Meta and Mark Zuckerberg didn't lose $80 billion on the metaverse
In 2021, Zuckerberg said Facebook was becoming a metaverse company. He's stopped saying that — but he's still putting money into metaverse-y things.

This article by @… is so good it got me to subscribe to @…. Thx @… for …

Silicon Valley has forgotten what normal people want
NFTs, the metaverse and AI are the most recent Silicon Valley enthusiasms. Does anyone remember how to build a consumer product?

The metaverse VR (legless virtual reality environment by Meta) will be shut down on June 15. https://communityforums.atmeta.com/blog/AnnouncementsBlog/updates-to-your-meta-quest-experience-in-2026/1369435
Metas Realit…

Behind the Blog: Marathon and the Metaverse https://www.404media.co/behind-the-blog-marathon-and-the-metaverse/

Mark Zuckerberg's original metaverse vision is effectively over, after renaming Facebook to Meta and spending ~$80B on the endeavor, as his focus shifts to AI (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/202…

The Long Farewell to Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse
Meta announced changes that effectively leave Mr. Zuckerberg’s vision of an immersive digital world based in virtual reality only on life support.

just found out this exists 💩
https://identitymanagementinstitute.org/cmsc-web3-security-certification/

Meta says it is "explicitly separating" Quest VR from its Worlds platform, making Worlds "almost exclusively mobile", letting it better compete with Roblox (Jay Peters/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/tech/881647/meta-vr-mobile-metaverse-ho…

Meta’s VR metaverse is ditching VR
Meta is shifting its Horizon Worlds strategy to make the platform “almost exclusively” for mobile while separating Quest VR from it.

"The same week that #OpenAI announced the imminent shutdown of Sora, its splashiest showcase for #AI, #Meta announced the shutdown of its splashiest showcase for the metaverse."
Brian the Merc…

AI's aesthetics of failure
On the demise of Sora and our enduring revulsion to AI slop

Vom Metaverse zur KI-Offensive: Mark Zuckerberg will Feeds, die nicht nur zeigen, sondern erzeugen. Du tippst einen Prompt, bekommst eine Welt – am besten gleich durch die Brille betrachtet. Social Media wird zur Bühne, auf der die KI Regie führt. Eintritt künftig wohl mit Abo. Meta bleibt sich treu: Visionär im Geschäftsmodell, blind für Verantwortung.
#Meta

Mark Zuckerberg is all in on AI as the new social media
During Meta’s Q4 2025 earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he believes AI will be the next big social media format, making feeds “more immersive and interactive.”

[sitting in my VRML-generated Java Applet that floats through the Metaverse, powered by Flash and Silverlight]
AI is here to stay!

Going all-in on the Metaverse.

Meta says Quest users will lose access to Meta Horizon Worlds on the headsets on June 15; access will continue on the Meta Horizon mobile app (Riley Griffin/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-17/meta-to-disc…