Profile picture
, 6 tweets, 3 min read
My Authors
Read all threads
I'm sure many others have observed this, but it strikes me that VR is how esports become real sports.

You can't get through some of these levels on Beat Saber without being somewhat fit. As input devices evolve, winning may require real athleticism.
If you mention esports you get one of a few reactions:
- lol, esports you nerd
- they're on Twitch and know it's getting big
- they're in Asia and it's already big
This is what passes for a famous event in esports, the Daigo Parry. If you know Street Fighter, this is actually pretty hard to do. But the combatants didn't need any athleticism in the normal sense to pull this off.

Video:
Wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Momen…
If you look at the history of football in the US, it started with informal games by young men, & then more formal games on college campuses, before it evolved into the pro sports league of the NFL.

Feels like a similar evolution is happening with esports.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_o…
VR input devices are becoming more sophisticated. While around for a while, omni-directional treadmills are of particular interest.

If a game required real speed on an omni-directional home treadmill to win, the esports champion would need to be physically fit in real life.
The health conscious are now aware that you can get COVID-19 from fitness classes.

So the group fitness companies like Barry's & Soulcycle may have just gotten killed mid-ascent.

More home fitness instead, like Peloton and Tonal.

More VR fitness too.
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh.

Enjoying this thread?

Keep Current with Balaji S. Srinivasan

Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @balajis see all

Profile picture
Balaji S. Srinivasan
@balajis
This is very true, and we need to treat the New York Times Company like any other tech corporation.

It’s not some special arbiter of what it is true. It’s another entity posting on the internet, distinguished by its use of the passive voice when attacking direct competitors.
The New York Times Company is a multibillion dollar multinational. One can argue that its monetization has improved even as its audience has narrowed.

Still, scrutiny of its every action is warranted, including from a competitive lens. It’s not neutral.
bloomberg.com/news/newslette…
By the way, if you are wondering just how the NYT went from the Failing New York Times to millions of digital subscribers...
nytimes.com/2019/12/18/opi…
Read 3 tweets
Profile picture
Balaji S. Srinivasan
@balajis
Over the last thirty years, the East Coast establishment has been busy blowing up other countries, blowing financial bubbles, and blowing the coronavirus response.
It’s not wholly geographical of course.

There are plenty of folks physically located on the East Coast with a tech state of mind.

And there are plenty of technologists working remote, especially these days.

But the East Coast is where the press and state are headquartered.
The story of the last 30 years is the rise of Asia, the rise of technology, and the decline of the East Coast establishment.

That’s the state, the press, Wall Street, academia.

The NY/DC/Boston corridor has less and less control over world events. Corona is the latest ignominy.
Read 3 tweets
Profile picture
Balaji S. Srinivasan
@balajis
Media corporations often rewrite stories in the passive voice without linking to the original sources.

By using the passive voice, they feign neutrality. By obscuring the primary source, they feign authority.

In reality they are increasingly just wrappers around Twitter.
It was @PalmerLuckey who broke this story as a citizen journalist. I doubt he cares about it, but it’s not that hard to give him credit.

Well, actually, I suppose it is if you want to maintain that media corporations rather than citizens are the real “guardians of democracy”.
It looks like the Verge story now mentions @PalmerLuckey towards the end but this ArsTechnica piece doesn’t. It credits the Verge instead.

@binarybits can write good stuff, so I hope he updates the piece to cite the citizen journalist who broke the story.
arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20…
Read 3 tweets

Embed code for your website

×
Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!