John Carmark Comments on Facebook Oculus Acquisition
There’s been a lot of anger over Facebook’s purchase of Oculus Rift. Some of it has been valid, some of it has been less valid, but all of it’s been loud. Some of those talking have no more knowledge of the situation than can be gleamed from The Social Network, so it’s nice to see that someone closer to the scene has had something to say. John Carmack, legendary coder and a big part of the Oculus project, has finally spoken about the Oculus acquisition.
(1/3) Everyone has had some time to digest the FB deal now. I think it is going to be positive, but clearly many disagree.
— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) March 28, 2014
(2/3) Much of the ranting has been emotional or tribal, but I am interested in reading coherent viewpoints about objective outcomes.
— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) March 28, 2014
(3/3) What are the hazards? What should be done to guard against them? What are the tests for failure? Blog and I’ll read.
— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) March 28, 2014
I would expect Facebook to not exert any overt control over Oculus unless Oculus fumbles badly a few times, at which point they SHOULD.
— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) March 28, 2014
So what do you think? Can you say something that’ll genuinely surprise him, or is your hate of the project more because of a fear of where the project may now go?