[cromka]

> Zoom calls were cool, but nobody could take the Persona seriously.

This is going to be another of their socially awkward gimmicks like Memojis they will double down until they inevitably fail.

I really feel like Apple actually just doesn’t feel it and every time they’re pushing their weird geeky ideas onto their users they loose a bit of coolness factor. And if kids decide Apple got too cringe, while someone else manages to use that to spin their momentum (think e.g. Nokia respawning riding the 90s sentiment wave), they may actually start to seriously struggle.

[haswell]

> This is going to be another of their socially awkward gimmicks like Memojis they will double down until they inevitably fail.

I don't necessarily agree. Some have talked about how the weirdness starts to fade after getting into a conversation and focusing on the discussion or collaboration at hand. It seems that once the brain has adjusted a bit, it can start to fill in for the badness somewhat.

The feature clearly has a long way to go before it's good, but I think it's premature to dismiss it. Future iterations will only improve, so if some people are finding some success with it now, that will only grow.

[cromka]

No, I absolutely get that. I still remember how talking to yourself wearing wired headset on the street was weird.

But it’s been over 5 years since Apple started pushing Memojis, they still continued as recently as last year and they have little adoption still, as far as I am aware.

Those who watched WWDC remember how cringey those Memoji bits were, I specifically refer to that aspect of their being increasingly out of touch.

[haswell]

I dunno. I know people who use their Memojis regularly and seem to enjoy it. I personally do not, but I think I’m not their target user. Not sure what the broader adoption looks like.

But I think these are different enough capabilities that the success or failure of one is not necessarily predictive of the other.

[cromka]

> Not sure what the broader adoption looks like.

Just google news Memojis and see what you get. Hardly any content, and if you navigate 2-3 pages further, you quickly reach 2022 and 2021 articles.

If that doesn't scream "low adoption" then I don't know what does.

[haswell]

As a method of estimating adoption, that seems fairly suspect. It doesn't exactly seem like a capability that would generate much news.

Google Trends seems more likely to be instructive, and as a topic, it has shown fairly steady (if low) interest over time after peaking on release with some periodic spikes most likely correlated with major updates.

But as a feature, I wouldn't expect even Google trends to be very instructive (for understanding adoption), since people who know how to use them aren't likely to be out there searching. More use = more familiarity = less searching. Who knows; maybe they're barely used, but there isn't good data to back up that claim, and there are a number of other ways to interpret the data that does exist.

With all of that said, I'll maintain that I don't see any real connection between them and Personas, or any predictive value in comparing them.

[cromka]

> More use = more familiarity = less searching.

For the record, my point here was: More use = more familiarity = better writing subject for portals and journalism

[veidr]

Uh, of the 100 or so acquaintances I have who use iphones, way more than half of them use their memoji for their public-facing visual representation. Nobody writes news articles about that for the same reason they no longer write news articles about the ability to use your voice to dictate messages, or charge your phone without plugging in a cable.

[bsdpufferfish]

Good thing its not Memoji.

[gffrd]

I’ve wondered the same. Apple has been a “given” for 20 years because they somehow keep shipping great stuff and avoid the Microsoft trap of looking like total dorks by existing in an echo chamber.

Even if they made a small misstep or had an awkward moment in a launch announcement, it was seen as endearing and forgivable.

But there seem to be an increase in moments where Apple comes across as behind the curve, or not as aware of where the public is at relative to them, compared to then.

[leptons]

>avoid the Microsoft trap of looking like total dorks by existing in an echo chamber.

Lolwhut?? Microsoft wishes it had a fraction of the echo chamber Apple fans create. It's what Apple is known for.

>Even if they made a small misstep or had an awkward moment in a launch announcement, it was seen as endearing and forgivable.

Uhhhh... "You're holding it wrong" was an absolute unmitigated PR disaster for Apple. It was one of the worst kinks ever in the "reality distortion field". People were rightly pissed. It was smug and stupid, not endearing.

[RajT88]

> "You're holding it wrong"

I cringe every time I hear someone say this to malign stupid users. Yes, I hear it at work.

Some people legit only read the headlines about that story, not the articles.

[saurik]

I believe the premise is that Microsoft--the employees and management or whatever: the entity, not the ecosystem or the users--exists in an echo chamber... as in, they keep thinking their users want stuff but their users actually don't.

[rpmisms]

You're misunderstanding. Apple exists in an echo chamber, Microsoft wishes they did.

[elif]

I imagine version 2 will likely have uncanny-valley-crossing AI filters to make it indistinguishable from your real face, background and expressions.

[Kon-Peki]

> they’re pushing their weird geeky ideas onto their users

This thing is like $5k all-in and even then you have to get on a waiting list. I wouldn’t really say that they’re pushing this on people.

[cromka]

Not talking about the device itself here.

[ApolIllo]

Damn. My family use Memojis heavily!

[amiantos]

Don't worry, most people on Hacker News have no real idea how normal everyday people use tech products. This person thinks Memojis are unused, but they just lack perspective.

[maximus-decimus]

> how normal everyday people use tech products

What do you mean? Obviously normies all browse the web in emacs and write their own plugins in elisp.

[cromka]

> This person thinks Memojis are unused, but they just lack perspective.

Or maybe you lack perspective, because maybe some people use it in your circle, but otherwise it’s very unpopular?

Observational fallacies work both ways.

[gffrd]

100% of my social circle works outside tech, and nobody uses memojis

[jnaina]

The world is bigger than just the US of A. Memojis are big among the teen set elsewhere.

[cromka]

If the amount of internet content regarding Memojis is to be a judge, Memojis might as well not exist at all.

From my broad circle in the US and Europe, I know one person who sends one maybe once a quarter.

[hnaccount_rng]

Wait till you find out where Apple makes >50% of its revenue ;)

[gffrd]

Pray tell, where should we be talking about?

[starkparker]

The point is that Apple trades in part on being fashionable.

Lots of people use Facebook but virtually nobody considers Facebook to be fashionable.

Meta doesn't care if Facebook is fashionable, but the more Apple looks like Meta, the bigger the opening for being disrupted on that front gets.

[fnordpiglet]

They’re wildly popular with the kids in my orbit especially 6-12

[mvkel]

What's the alternative? You have goggles strapped to your face. Personas are the only thing you -can- do to have any sense of presence on a call.

It's not perfect. It's not even good. But it's better than nothing.

[38]

> coolness factor

Apple hasn't been cool for a long, long time. Everyone has an iPhone so it's no longer special. It's just a waste of money when you can get basically the same android phone for half the price

[threeseed]

By definition it isn't a gimmick.

You either have some rendered 3D model or you take the headset off when making a call.

Physics dictates that those are your only two choices.

[cozzyd]

I've never heard of memojis before...

[tyfon]

Same, and now I feel old again : - \

[bagels]

We're so close to having ai just re-render your face in the videos.