The Metaverse: And How it Will Revolutionize Everything

by Matthew Ball, Irina Evstigneeva (Translator), Olga Lisenkova (Translator)

Overview

Chtoby zaglyanut' v blizhayshee budushchee, predstav'te sebe global'nuyu set' virtual'nyh mirov, obitateli kotoryh mogut priobretat' i prodavat' tovary i uslugi, zanimat'sya naukoy i tvorchestvom, znakomit'sya, obshchat'sya, igrat', zavodit' sem'yu. Rech' ne o nauchnoy fantastike: metavselennaya — eto «sleduyushchiy internet», tekhnologicheskaya i social'naya koncepciya, kotoraya skoro radikal'no pomenyaet nashu zhizn' onlayn i dazhe oflayn. Byvshiy top-menedzher Amazon Studios, venchurnyy kapitalist i evangelist metavselennoy Met'yu Boll uveren v tom, chto skoro ona proizvedet revolyuciyu vo vsekh otraslyah i professiyah — ot videoigr i social'nyh setey do finansov i gorodskogo planirovaniya. V svoey knige on issleduet rol' Web 3.0, blokcheyna, kriptovalyut i rynka NFT v razvitii metavselennoy, opisyvaet gryadushchie transformacii obshchestvennogo i ekonomicheskogo ustroystva chelovecheskoy civilizacii i predskazyvaet, komu suzhdeno zarabotat' trilliony v novom udivitel'nom mire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9785961485448
Publisher:	Alpina Publisher
Publication date:	06/01/2023
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	362
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	16 Years
Language:	Russian

About the Author

Matthew Ball is the CEO of Epyllion and the former global head of strategy for Amazon Studios. He has written for the New York Times, the Economist, and Bloomberg. His self-published essays on the Metaverse have been read millions of times and cited by leaders at Epic Games, Facebook, Tencent, and Coinbase. Ball divides his time between Toronto, New York City, and Miami.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Part I What is the Metaverse?

Chapter 1 A Brief History of the Future 3

Chapter 2 Confusion and Uncertainty 18

Chapter 3 A Definition (Finally) 29

Chapter 4 The Next Internet 60

Part II Building the Metaverse

Chapter 5 Networking 71

Chapter 6 Computing 89

Chapter 7 Virtual World Engines 103

Chapter 8 Interoperability 121

Chapter 9 Hardware 141

Chapter 10 Payment Rails 164

Chapter 11 Blockchains 207

Part III How The Metaverse Will Revolutionize Everything

Chapter 12 "When Will the Metaverse Arrive? 239

Chapter 13 Meta-Businesses 250

Chapter 14 Metaverse Winners and Losers 269

Chapter 15 Metaversal Existence 290

Conclusion Spectators, All 305

Acknowledgments 311

Notes 313

Index 323

Editorial Reviews

This book feels like a rare achievement—a definitive statement about an emerging phenomenon that could shape the digital world, the global economy, and the very experience of human consciousness.”

Atlantic staff writer and national best-selling au Derek Thompson

Matthew Ball’s essays have defined, analyzed, and inspired the Metaverse for years. His book is an approachable and essential guide to the strategic, technical, and philosophical foundations of this new medium.”

founder and CEO of Epic Games Tim Sweeney

"For this emerging generation the metaverse will be a perfectly natural psychological extension of everything they have ever known. For the rest of us, who will soon need to catch up, Ball’s book is the best crash course we have."

Kit Wilson

"[P]rovides more than just a definitive definition of the metaverse, which despite mounting interest, many people still fail to fully understand . . . Much of the book is a breezy read . . . [it details] what systems will be necessary for the metaverse to thrive."

Science - Dov Greenbaum

"A great historical perspective on technology and how it brought us to this point . . . an excellent book if people want to learn where we are and where we are going."

Toronto Star - Raju Mudhar

"Excellent . . . Chapters on bringing the various iterations of the developing metaverse together, making them interact, and the hardware required, are lucid and logical. The third section is even better. Ball prophesies about where and how the metaverse might arrive, and what it could do to our lives. Its strength is testament to years of thinking deeply about the area."

Chris Stokel-Walker

"[In] The Metaverse, Matthew Ball explains how it could operate in practice and explores how it might turn out to be a lot more exciting and beneficial invention than the miserabilists imagine, so long as we help shape its evolution . . . [written] in an informed and provocative style . . . it serves as a comprehensive guide to every aspect of the metaverse, from its technical underpinnings to its societal responsibilities."

Financial Times - John Thornhill

"Matthew is the leading thinker on the metaverse and gaming, one of the leading thinkers on media… The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything, in my opinion, [is] the very best book on its topic… [I] recommend highly."

Conversations with Tyler - Tyler Cowen

"[A]n instant classic . . . detailed, meticulously researched, and dense with observations and insight. I read it twice, just to make sure I scooped up every gem within it . . . a must-read for those in digital media . . . I loved this book and can’t recommend it highly enough."

Charlie Fink

"Mr. Ball’s summary of the history of virtual worlds, in both fiction and computer science, provides helpful context. But his book’s most valuable contribution may prove to be his definition of the metaverse . . . For anyone who wants to understand the process [of building the metaverse] and what is at stake, Mr. Ball’s lucid and timely book offers a portal into a new realm."

The Economist

"Where big tech waffles about the metaverse while spending billions on making it a reality, Ball has exacting standards for what the metaverse must be and what would be needed to achieve it."

The Spectator - James Ball

"The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything, offers a better understanding of the metaverse than the novel that coined the term — 1992’s Snow Crash . . . it tactfully toes the line between enthusiasm and skepticism while weighing possible futures against infrastructural realities . . . A tour of metaverse concepts from heady theory to gritty technicalities"

Bloomberg - Cecilia D'Anastasio

"[Ball’s] book puts some meat behind the buzzword . . . his arguments are rooted in reality, and his optimism is tempered with the murkiness of real life . . . a good read that handles the hard work of describing the technology and defining the metaverse in elegant ways that don’t sacrifice all of the complexity. And so it’s worth your time, particularly if you want to know what the future is going to be about and whether the metaverse will truly generate trillions of dollars in new wealth."

VentureBeat - Dean Takahashi

"Written by luminary Metaverse theorist, essayist, and VC, Matthew Ball, this book explores the ‘next internet.’ Ball demonstrates that many proto-Metaverses are already here. Yet, these offer only a glimpse of what is to come . . . The Metaverse is a timely, authoritative overview of the subject. Don’t miss it!"

Forbes - Cathy Hackl

"The Metaverse is a timely, authoritative, and accessible overview of the subject . . . well-pitched for the interested non-expert."

Hilary Lamb

"Ball [is] clear and transparent on his assumptions and ground[s] his discussion in real data and facts. His analysis then manages to integrate logic, humor, and an appropriate degree of skepticism of the most extreme claims, often made by those with vested interests. The result is an entertaining and thought-provoking guide to the coming alternative virtual world that should prove indispensable to not just users and developers but investors, competitors, and regulators."

Business Insider - Jonathan A. Knee

"Just as the present internet can be described as a network of networks, so the metaverse will be the virtual world of all virtual worlds. This is the vision offered in The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything by Matthew Ball . . . Ultimately, the fundamental question [Ball addresses] has to do with the social value of the metaverse: Can a human life spent in a virtual world still flourish? [Ball believes] that it can. The structures of our personal and social lives . . . are just as meaningful whether the substrate is our physical reality or a digital world . . . What, by the way, will happen to the real world that so many of us are supposedly eager to leave behind? Mr. Ball is excellent on the enormous infrastructure investments required to build a metaverse."

Wall Street Journal - Steven Poole

"[Ball] has long been one of the most interesting writers analyzing the technological and cultural shifts behind the emergence of the Metaverse, and his new book, The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything, provides an informative account on where our online existence is heading…. [Ball] knows what he is talking about, and perhaps more importantly, when the enthusiastic prophets of the new digital age are blowing smoke… If Ball’s illuminating guide is anything to go by, there is a bright future ahead for those building the Metaverse — and time perhaps for the rest of us to dust off those mirror-shades."

Los Angeles Review of Books - Paul Dicken

"This is the big reason why Matthew Ball is so influential in shaping our understanding of a conceptual metaverse: he is a skilled communicator and writer with clarity of thought. His book is a showcase of this talent as he traces the contours of our theoretical, collective future. Matthew goes beyond jargon and marketing smoke and mirrors to shine a light on the challenges of evolving the internet. His book is essential reading to anyone interested not just in what digital life may evolve into, but how we’ve already evolved with it throughout time."

Gene Park

2022-05-10
A robust explanation of a “persistent, 3D, virtual world—a network of interconnected experiences and devices, tools and infrastructure, far beyond mere virtual reality.”

What is the metaverse? Over the past year or so, it has become one of the most buzzworthy topics in the tech world, but do we understand what it does and why it matters? Since “much of the tech community continues to dispute key elements” of the metaverse, consider tech maven Ball, CEO of EpyllionCo, former global head of corporate strategy for Amazon Studios, our knowledgeable guide on this journey of discovery. A foremost expert on the metaverse, the author defines and demystifies what has yet to materialize, encouraging readers to suspend disbelief and instead consider the concept as they did their early interactions with tech innovations such as touchscreens, app stores, and Zoom. Although not yet fully unified or conceptualized, certain elements of the metaverse presently exist in tech services such as video games and virtual reality systems. The author nods to tech grandparents like GE and Honeywell while noting the rise of NFTs, cryptocurrency, and blockchain, explaining how they function. Though it will be a long time before a fully realized metaverse becomes an everyday reality, once in place, it could be used in myriad ways to improve human life. “It’s rare,” writes Ball, “that the world’s largest companies publicly reorient themselves around such ideas at an early stage, thereby setting themselves up to be evaluated by employees, customers, and shareholders on the basis of their success in realizing their most ambitious visions.” The author lucidly lays out the background, current state of affairs, and fantastic possibilities for the future.

Readers will gain unprecedented insight into an otherwise insular aspect of the tech world.

Kirkus Reviews