Remember, Elliott Helped ET To Go Home

Michael Hedges November 24, 2021 Follow on Twitter

For those who toil with them words are important, understood, selected with care. Phrases count, too. Sentences matter in print, television not at all. Lexicographers examine words in nearly every language. The French are very strict. Borrowing from many languages, English is most welcoming. The arrival of a new word is celebrated by those who always need the collection restocked.

This past summer Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg began using a word new to most people: metaverse. He proceeded to define and refine the noun with each pronouncement. Summer being a rather dull period, reporters fell all over it. A few discovered that metaverse had originated with dystopian science fiction writer Neal Stephenson nearly thirty years before. It did not matter.

According to Mr. Zuckerberg the metaverse is the “embodied internet,” he explained to Casey Newton of tech portal The Verge (July 22). “I think,” continued, “that this is a persistent, synchronous environment where we can be together, which I think is probably going to resemble some kind of a hybrid between the social platforms that we see today, but an environment where you’re embodied in it.” Instantly the tech tribe - and the scribes who tag along - resoundingly phonated “OOOHHH” and “AAAHHH.”

The real purpose of a chief executive, we have learned, is less about firing up the employees and entirely about keeping shareholders and investors fired up. This has been the big tech credo forever. Mr. Zuckerberg knows that “baffle them with bullshit” is corporate imperative. Not long after revealing the metaverse, he changed the company name from Facebook to Meta.

Not long thereafter metaverse was endorsed by none other than the original developer of Fantasyland, The Walt Disney Company. “Our efforts to date are merely a prologue to a time when we'll be able to connect the physical and digital worlds even more closely, allowing for storytelling without boundaries in our own Disney metaverse,” said chief executive Bob Chapek on an investor earnings call in early November. “And we look forward to creating unparalleled opportunities for consumers to experience everything Disney has to offer across our products and platforms, wherever the consumer may be. Disney could become the happiest place in the metaverse.” Diligent scribes attentive to archives quickly reported it was Disney Parks digital vice president Tilak Mandadi who made the metaverse suggestion about a year ago. He has since left the company for MGM Resorts as corporate strategy chief.

Microsoft is also joining the parade, announcing software app upgrades (Mesh) for laptops and mobile phones that avoid the clunky headsets. The Microsoft Team platform, a strong competitor for Zoom, will integrate virtual reality for those irritating online meetings. Rather than adopting the Meta embodiment strategy, Microsoft is focused on enterprise.

Not to be left behind sportswear company Nike jumped into the metaverse. With video games platform Roblox, Nike is rolling out the virtual Nikeland and retail brand Nike Live, noted Reuters (November 18). "Nike created this bespoke world with the backdrop of its world headquarters and inside Roblox's immersive 3D space, building on its goal to turn sport and play into a lifestyle," said the company statement. Like many manufacturers Nike is having supply chain issues so substituting virtual reality for real shoe wearing sports preserves the cash flow.

Fortunately somebody sees the humor in all this. Visit Iceland, the country’s tourism office, released a short video titled “Icelandverse.” It was created by New York ad house SS+K. It features an actor, dressed in that Mark Zuckerberg style (and haircut), pitching reality. “This is a really fun way to talk about the reality that is Iceland and how incredibly beautiful the country is and that it’s been in development for millions of years, said creative director Stevie Archer to AdWeek (November 17).

Collins Dictionary chose NFT as its word of the year, reported the Guardian (November 24). NFT is the abbreviation for non-fungible token, “a digital certificate of ownership of a unique asset, such as an artwork or collectible.” NFTs are traded but don’t physically exist. Metaverse also made the Collins top ten list, as did cryptocurrency. It’s all related.

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