The hype around the metaverse reminded the Russian-speaking immigrant of communist propaganda: what is wrong with it

Phil Libin, founder of Evernote, talked about the metaverse in a recent podcast. Libin compared the metaverse ads to the communist propaganda he heard on The Soviet Union in childhood. Among other things, he described the metaverse as "incredibly stupid," says Insider.

The technology founder compared today's metaverse hype to the Soviet propaganda he encountered as a child.

Phil Libin, Founder of note-taking app Evernote and CEO of video conferencing company mmhmm, made comments in podcasthosted by tech journalist Eric Newcomer, Katie Banner of The New York Times, and Tom Dothan of Insider, released Tuesday, February 22.

Libin has expressed deep skepticism that tech companies are touting the metaverse. He drew comparisons to his experiences growing up in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Russia.

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“In the Soviet Union, I went to first grade,” Libin said. - I was exposed to a lot of Soviet propaganda, and as a child I was repeatedly told: "Communism does not exist yet." We have not built communism yet. We are moving towards communism. But this is not yet communism. What you see around you is a terrible, terrible place - this is not communism. We are moving towards it. It will be great to have him here."

“You know, a bad idea can be smelled even before it is fully implemented. So I don't want to hear, "Oh yeah, the metaverse doesn't exist yet." No, no, no, all this nonsense, all this stupid, useless, shitty nonsense that exists right now, this is not the metaverse. The Metaverse is coming — coming,” he added.

Shine that replaces the lack of ideas

The word "metaverse" is borrowed from science fiction and refers to a future version Internet. It is accessed through immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality headsets. In particular, it was promoted by Mark Zuckerberg, who renamed Facebook to Meta in October.

Libin described it as "the brilliance that uncreative people and companies give to a fundamental lack of good ideas."

"There's a part of me that hates it and a part of me that's afraid of it, but because I think it's so fabulously stupid, there's really nothing to be afraid of," he added.

Libin said he believes VR headsets will be a major deterrent to the metaverse.

“VR is what makes sure none of this ever takes off because nobody wants to spend any time with a plastic thing strapped to their face,” he said.