Will You Look into The Vision Pro?
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Will You Look into The Vision Pro?
Even the wisest cannot tell what you will see
It’s been a while since I did a tweet roundup so I’ve got some fun ones for you all this week! But first: some background.
One Headset to Rule Them All
This week Apple dropped their Vision Pro headsets, which is Apple’s foray into Augmented Reality (AR) or “spatial computing.” Here’s the commercial of it in action if you haven’t seen it yet:
The headset comes in at the low, low price of $3499…
$3500? What, are they made of mithril or something?
So what will you see when you look through it? Even the wisest cannot tell. But what I can tell you is that there were memes about it immediately.
It should come as no surprise that I couldn’t help but join in and have a little fun with this whole idea. Here’s a few of my own efforts and some of my other favorites as well:
The wise among us might recognize it as a dangerous tool. Others, however…
Of course, we all know what the best use of this would be if we really actually got one.
Buyer beware: the long-term effects of using these have not yet been studied…
Fun and games aside, I don’t know that this is the kind of device for me. Even if the price were more reasonable, we do not know who else may be watching!
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Just Announced: A Revised and Expanded Edition of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
A Revised and Expanded edition of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien with more than 150 NEW letters (for a total of over 500) will be releasing this November! Tolkien’s letters offer invaluable insight into Tolkien himself, the composition and publishing process of his many works such as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, and his own interpretations of key characters or passages from his works. So to see so many more of these letters made available to the public is thrilling! What a treasure these will be to pore over.
The release date is currently listed as November 14, 2023. You can preorder it now (for example at Bookshop.org or Amazon) or pick up a current edition to get a head start.
New Release: The Battle of Maldon Together With The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth by J.R.R. Tolkien
Another Tolkien publishing alert: The Battle of Maldon: Together with the Homecoming of Beorhtnoth was just recently released. This volume contains Tolkien’s own translation of The Battle of Maldon, an Old English poem about the Battle of Maldon in 991 AD, as well as his own dramatic verse-dialogue, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son, which he wrote in the 1930s.
It’s available via your local bookstore (order on Bookshop.org to still support them if you can’t make it in person) and Amazon.
Jokien with Tolkien Discord Server
Join the conversation and community that’s happening on the Jokien with Tolkien Discord server by either becoming a paid subscriber of this newsletter (I’m running a 20% off special for the Discord launch!) or by joining one of the various tiers of my Patreon (they start at just $1/month and all include Discord access):
We’ve had some great conversations so far (such as “Who is the best elf and who is your favorite elf?” and “Where in Middle-earth—Rivendell in the early Third Age, Minas Tirith in the early Fourth Age, Gondolin during a peaceful part of the First Age, or Nargothrond during a peaceful part of the First Age—would you prefer to live?”) and I’m excited for how the community will continue to develop and grow!
Tweet of the Week
As for me and my house, we will hey dol, merry dol, ring a dong dillo!
That’s all for today’s newsletter. Farewell, friends. Go towards goodness.
Special shoutout and thank you to Dejayz for upgrading to a paid subscription this week!
Appendices
- , a subscriber to this newsletter who also has her own newsletter at , contributed an essay to the Substack titled “History As The Long Defeat” examining Tolkien’s own view of history. Check it out and giver her a follow at !
Finished Ted Lasso this past week. I’ll say (without spoilers) that though this was the weakest of the three seasons, I think they mostly stuck the landing. Anyone else heard the theory that (light spoilers?) part of the finale was a dream? Here’s a really interesting Substack post about it.
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Will You Look into The Vision Pro?
I just have no interest in the Vision Pro and things like it? I can’t see the appeal.
I am, however, keeping my fingers crossed for a spin-off from Ted Lasso and that some wrongs wrongs will be righted in it.
Don’t think I will, no. The tech itself is incredible, but I think the ramifications in regard to isolation of even more people hasn’t necessarily been properly thought out. I guess time will tell though.