Mark Zuckerberg bet Meta's future on the metaverse — renaming Facebook's parent company, spending over $40 billion developing virtual reality technology, and declaring that the metaverse would be the next computing platform replacing smartphones. In 2026, the verdict is brutal. Meta's Horizon Worlds has been widely mocked for its low-quality graphics and empty virtual spaces. The Quest headset has sold reasonably well but nowhere near the numbers needed to establish a new computing paradigm. Apple's Vision Pro arrived to critical acclaim but eye-watering prices that limited adoption. AI has stolen the tech industry's attention and investment. Is the metaverse dead, or is it simply early — the way the internet seemed like a toy in 1995 before changing everything?
