The first content on any new platform is usually a direct port of the old one, like radio-style reads on early television. True, native innovation only happens after a period of experimentation and understanding the new medium's unique capabilities. Expect early AR content to look like 2D videos in glasses.

Related Insights

The most opportune moment to focus on a new technology is when it is dynamic, exciting, and poorly understood. The point at which it becomes mainstream and easily explainable is often the signal that the period of exponential change is over, and it's time to shift attention to the next frontier.

Contrary to the belief that new form factors like phones replace laptops, the reality is more nuanced. New devices cause specific tasks to move to the most appropriate platform. Laptops didn't die; they became better at complex tasks, while simpler jobs moved to phones. The same will happen with wearables and AI.

The first internet live stream was a coffee pot, which seemed like a silly toy. This pattern repeats: transformative technologies begin with seemingly trivial applications. Skeptics consistently confuse this initial silliness with a lack of serious potential, failing to see how these "toys" foreshadow massive future industries.

The OpenAI team believes generative video won't just create traditional feature films more easily. It will give rise to entirely new mediums and creator classes, much like the film camera created cinema, a medium distinct from the recorded stage plays it was first used for.

A consistent pattern shows innovators adopting the models of legacy players they displaced. YouTube creating cable-like bundles, Coinbase mirroring traditional banks, and Facebook becoming new media illustrates a natural lifecycle where disruptors eventually converge with the industries they set out to revolutionize.

The most compelling user experience in Meta's new glasses isn't a visual overlay but audio augmentation. A feature that isolates and live-transcribes one person's speech in a loud room creates a "super hearing" effect. This, along with live translation, is a unique value proposition that a smartphone cannot offer.

While repurposing content is efficient, creating content natively for a specific platform delivers exponentially better results. The performance lift isn't incremental; speaking directly to the platform's audience and format can yield a 100x improvement.

Consumer innovation arrives in predictable waves after major technological shifts. The browser created Amazon and eBay; mobile created Uber and Instagram. The current AI platform shift is creating the same conditions for a new, massive wave of consumer technology companies.

While phones are single-app devices, augmented reality glasses can replicate a multi-monitor desktop experience on the go. This "infinite workstation" for multitasking is a powerful, under-discussed utility that could be a primary driver for AR adoption.

While voice interfaces will grow, the next truly seismic platform shift will be the adoption of AR glasses. This change will be as profound as the transition from television to the smartphone, fundamentally altering how we consume content and interact with the digital world.