Prompt Cast
The Facebook Acquisition of Oculus: A History and Future of VR
TLDR This podcast episode covers the history of Facebook's acquisition of Oculus, from its humble beginnings in a garage to its $2.3 billion purchase. The hosts also discuss the challenges and potential risks that Facebook faces in integrating VR technology into its platform.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
This episode of the podcast is about the Facebook acquisition of Oculus, a virtual reality company, and the hosts are going to cover the acquisition history and facts.
06:02
Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus, started his journey into virtual reality by working part-time at the Institute for Creative Technologies at USC and hacking together prototypes in his parents' garage, while also participating in online forums dedicated to creating VR devices.
12:53
Palmer Luckey duct tapes the display to the head mounting piece of the Oculus prototype, which catches the attention of the tech and video game press, leading to a watershed moment when John Carmack demos on the hardware at E3 2012, before the company is even founded.
18:49
Oculus raises $2.4 million through a successful Kickstarter campaign and continues to sell developer kits on their website, leading to the company raising a $16 million series A and then a $75 million series B, with John Carmack joining as CTO and Mark Andreessen joining the board.
24:22
Facebook acquires Oculus for $2.3 billion, solidifying their reputation as an aggressive acquirer and exemplifying their fear of missing out on new technologies.
30:09
After Facebook's acquisition of Oculus, they faced a lawsuit from Zenimax alleging theft of IP and violation of an NDA, resulting in a $500 million judgment against Facebook and the potential for an injunction to halt sales of the Rift.
36:36
Valve, a software company and creator of the Steam platform, partnered with HTC to release a superior VR product, the Vive, shortly after Facebook's release of the Oculus Rift, demonstrating their ability to out execute their competitors in the VR space.
41:57
The hosts recommend trying out VR and specifically mention the app Rec Room as a great example of the social potential of VR.
47:37
Oculus is becoming more integrated with Facebook, with the Oculus team moving to Menlo Park and the goal of protecting Facebook's network and business model by owning the customer relationship in the future of VR.
53:38
Facebook could potentially prioritize the Oculus business while still maintaining a first-class relationship with customers of VR by ensuring that Facebook works well on all VR platforms, similar to Google's strategy with Android.
59:43
Facebook's acquisition of Oculus allowed the company to advance its hardware technology and encourage software developers to build games and videos for VR, something that would have taken much longer without the acquisition.
01:05:46
The hosts discuss the potential risks and challenges that Facebook faces in integrating VR technology into its platform and the importance of maintaining a horizontal approach rather than prioritizing Oculus.
01:12:00
Intel's acquisition of Mobileye highlights the ongoing debate between vertical and horizontal approaches in technology.
01:18:00
The hosts conclude the episode by thanking listeners for their support and encouraging them to leave a review on iTunes to help grow the show.
Categories:
Technology
Business
