Oculus will sell a Quest 2 headset that doesn't need Facebook for an extra $500 (opens in new tab)

(pcgamer.com)

25 pointsstaz5y ago14 comments

14 comments

11 comments · 4 top-level

blueking5y ago· 4 in thread

Funny I just setup my Quest 2 today. Made a fresh facebook account with a new email and chose a fake name and birthday. Breaking the FB ToS is NOT a crime. Why would anyone pay an extra $500, and then $180/yr when the worst that can happen is the $300 headset gets bricked/banned? This is a stupidity tax.

jobigoud5y ago

Your FB account will most likely be flagged/ banned if you don't use it as a normal person, unless you are lucky. Not respectiing the TOS is not a crime but them enforcing them is also not a crime...

blueking5y ago

I don't think that's true. They don't have time to police billions of facebook accounts for 'normal' behavior. I'll friend a few random people. In the super unlikely worst case I'm out $300 but probably so is FB. It's in their interests to collect data and sell it under the fake name I gave. Only if I explicitly state to them the name is fake do they lose out. They don't ask and I won't tell and the advertisers will purchase shit. Win, win, win.

1 more reply

senkora5y ago

Was your account not immediately banned? It seems like people had a lot of problems with that strategy in practice when the Quest 2 first came out.

blueking5y ago

I created an email alias on my domain to start the FB account. Works fine, not banned. If they get data to sell, probably they don't care. I can run credit card payments on the store as well.

m4635y ago· 2 in thread

I wonder if this is a firmware patch that can be applied to the cheap/evil version.

It is also interesting in that it places a dollar amount on privacy.

jtsiskin5y ago

This doesn’t place a dollar amount on privacy, the author makes that up for a headline. This is just differential pricing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination) targeting business buyers. It’s a bit of an embarrassing article for the journalist

Rebelgecko5y ago

I think there's some confounding factors since this version comes with other features that the consumer version doesn't even (e.g. dedicated support)

boojums5y ago· 1 in thread

>There's also an annual fee of $180.

It sounds like this model is targeted at business users. I expect most VR enthusiasts that care about privacy to the extent of $500 + $180 per year would never buy something from Facebook anyway.

nacs5y ago

I'm pretty sure it's priced to actively dissuade normal people from buying it.

I doubt charging $500 more to a business affects FB's revenues any meaningful amount.

simcop23875y ago

Along with a $180/yr service charge.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

14 comments

11 comments · 4 top-level

blueking5y ago· 4 in thread

jobigoud5y ago

Your FB account will most likely be flagged/ banned if you don't use it as a normal person, unless you are lucky. Not respectiing the TOS is not a crime but them enforcing them is also not a crime...

blueking5y ago

1 more reply

senkora5y ago

Was your account not immediately banned? It seems like people had a lot of problems with that strategy in practice when the Quest 2 first came out.

blueking5y ago

I created an email alias on my domain to start the FB account. Works fine, not banned. If they get data to sell, probably they don't care. I can run credit card payments on the store as well.

m4635y ago· 2 in thread

I wonder if this is a firmware patch that can be applied to the cheap/evil version.

It is also interesting in that it places a dollar amount on privacy.

jtsiskin5y ago

Rebelgecko5y ago

I think there's some confounding factors since this version comes with other features that the consumer version doesn't even (e.g. dedicated support)

boojums5y ago· 1 in thread

>There's also an annual fee of $180.

It sounds like this model is targeted at business users. I expect most VR enthusiasts that care about privacy to the extent of $500 + $180 per year would never buy something from Facebook anyway.

nacs5y ago

I'm pretty sure it's priced to actively dissuade normal people from buying it.

I doubt charging $500 more to a business affects FB's revenues any meaningful amount.

simcop23875y ago

Along with a $180/yr service charge.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse