E-Ink Vision Pro

Apart from inserting the egg of the Insect Lord directly in your brain in a “totally safe” operation, what I’ve seen of the Vision Pro makes it seem like the ultimate in Cone of Light entrainment technologies. For sure it seems very compelling, possibly/definitely even mesmerizing. I can’t think of where I read it, but one reviewer suggested it was “too addictive.” As someone who has foresworn cell phone technology for exactly that reason, I would at a glance tend to agree.

I’m moving in a different direction. The direction of “Do One Thing” technology that – you guessed it – does one thing. It doesn’t mean I don’t use technology anymore. I use a lot of it. And I obviously access the internet, but within the shapes and containers that are working for me, not me for them.

One of the latest steps in that direction has been the recent acquisition of an Onyx Boox Mira 13.3″ external monitor for my M1 Macbook Pro. It’s weird and takes some adjusting and tinkering to get it to work the way I want it, but I think I’m starting to like it. I’m writing on it now. I definitely feel like eyestrain is reduced using it, though ymmv depending on your use case.

It got me thinking about ironically the idea of an “e-ink vision pro” which I thought would be hilarious. But even more hilarious, the idea does actually exist and it’s basically just an e-reader as a headset you wear in front of your eyes. It looks unfathomably stupid, and not quite what I had in mind. Why wouldn’t you just read a book if you needed to have text in front of your eyes in order to read books?

One thing that’s surprising is you can watch video on it pretty effectively in video mode (there are different modes and its weird but you get used to it). It’s not like the video you get off a Macbook Pro monitor, but that’s exactly the point, to cut down all that data, and shape it in a way that is more suited to me as a human. So maybe there is some future where we have fully immersive VR/AR that actually mixes in e-ink displays? It seems probable, if perhaps ironic sounding at first. Black and white virtual reality, grainy pixellated crappy displays. Honestly, I think I prefer that future in lo-fi mode – where I’m left with I think more space to be me – instead of subjected to the outrageous demands of 80-bazillion-K SUPER-DUPER-ULTRA-HIGH-TOP-MOST-BIGGEST-DEF that causes the consumer to endlessly tail chase for the latest update, and become no doubt more and more locked into those closed product ecosystems. Hard pass.

I don’t think I need more from reality than what I already see with my own eyes ears and the rest. God knows those are already faulty enough, and my biggest issue in life is just dealing with things as they are and finding my best place in them regardless of what happens on the day to day. I don’t see anything but another layer of at best distraction and at worst full paralysis to the Cone of Light, in order to make your physical body a more docile host for impregnation by the Insect Lord.