Why former Google CEO is not impressed with Metaverse and Facebook’s take on it – Times of India

Metaverse has been the new buzzword in the technology world since sometime now. However, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is not too enthused with the very concept of Metaverse. Schmidt was Google CEO for ten years — from from 2001 to 2011. He was executive chairman of Alphabet Inc from 2015 to 2017, and Technical Advisor at Alphabet from 2017 to 2020. At an event in Colorado, US, recently, Schmidt reportedly expressed skepticism about the importance and adoption that this new technology may take on in the future.
‘No one clearly knows or has defined what Metaverse is’
Schimdt said that so far there is no consensus on the very definition of Metaverse is and it means. “There’s not an agreement on what the metaverse is, even though one company has changed its name in anticipation of defining it,” said Schimdt. Google’s ex CEO seemed to be refering to social networking giant Facebook here who now includes Metaverse as one of the key pillars of its operation and has renamed itself to Meta.
Schmidt is also not too excited about real estate in the Metaverse and considers it as a controversial subject. “I’m not worried about buying large swaths of private real estate in the metaverse myself. It’s not a concern I have every day,” he said.
Not taking dig at Facebook for the first time
Incidentally, this is not first time that Schmidt has taken a dig at Facebook over Metaverse. In 2021, while speaking to CNBC, Schmidt had said, “I’ve been waiting for about thirty years. … As to whether Facebook will build that, I don’t know.”
Schmidt went on to say that he will continue to call the company Facebook, just as others call Alphabet “Google,” which he said is “how it really works.” He added that while the promise of the Metaverse is powerful, but it could pose problems when people forgo real life for the virtual world.
What is Metaverse
As per the most widely acceptable defination of Metaverse, it is a virtual world where you can socialise, work and play.