[goodcjw2]

Unpopular opinion: Mozilla has some unique advantage to win the 3D Web.

1/ Hubs and spoke (https://hubs.mozilla.com/spoke) are trying to solve the problem of how to composite and deliver 3D assets over web protocol.

1.1/ Unlike jpegs that can be passively embedded into web pages, 3D assets requires active interactions with other objects.

1.2/ Traditionally, we need a 3D game engine to pack all the assets into one big binary, then build and ship the binary over cartridge, DVD, or recently Steam.

1.3/ Spoke + Hubs is the new web-based 3D engine, which can potentially revolutionize how we create and access 3D content.

2/ Being a popular, open source, and independent browser company gives Mozilla the position of leading the effort to standardize the convention of the 3D Web.

3/ This is low level tech and worth investing in. Also Mozilla makes decent money (> $500M each year) and this is something they can comfortably afford.

4/ Virtual meeting space is just one use case. Admittedly Hubs' implementation is less than super well polished, but I don't know whether they want to be the 3D Zoom in the long run. But I will say it's pretty neat if we treat it like a tech demo for their Web-based 3D engine.

[stu2b50]

Considering Mozilla had to lay off a significant amount of the company, including almost all of the developers on the rust teams, not too long ago I’m not so sure how comfortably they can afford it.

[a2800276]

Once they start charging for [MDN Plus](https://www.ghacks.net/2022/02/21/mdn-plus-mozilla-plans-to-...) they'll not only be able to afford it, but also give their board well deserved raises. After all, user surveys keep indicating that what Mozilla users want more than anything else is to pay for User generated MDN content.

Also:https://hacks.mozilla.org/2022/03/a-new-year-a-new-mdn/

[rndgermandude]

>After all, user surveys keep indicating that what Mozilla users want more than anything else is to pay for User generated MDN content.

This isn't what's planned. They will not be charging for user-generated content including all content currently available on MDN. They will be charging for additional in-depth articles as well as some "premium" features when it comes to personalization and easier off-line use[0].

[0] and of course nobody will prevent you from rolling our own such features or even a competing MDN-like site, as the content is available under CC-BY-SA-2.5 on github.

[benatkin]

They aren't really independent because a huge chunk of their money comes from Google. Their open source, not counting Rust because they divested that, is also mostly under their own copyleft license which discourages outside collaboration.

[ModernMech]

> the 3D Web.

Wow, I haven't encountered such an obvious technological fad since 3D TV was a thing, and I'm quite sure the "3D web" such as it is will meet the same fate. It has all the same markers too:

- a stalling industry desperately looking for a new revenue stream: check

- heavily locked down content tied to expensive hardware: check

- aggressively pushing an unwanted product that doesn't do anything anyone really needs: check