
The History of the Future
Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Graybill
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By:
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Blake J. Harris
About this listen
The dramatic, larger-than-life true story behind the founding of Oculus and its quest for virtual reality, by the best-selling author of Console Wars.
From iconic books like Neuromancer to blockbuster films like The Matrix, virtual reality has long been hailed as the ultimate technology. But outside of a few research labs and military training facilities, this tantalizing vision of the future was nothing but science fiction. Until 2012, when Oculus founder Palmer Luckey - then just a rebellious teenage dreamer living alone in a camper trailer - invents a device that has the potential to change everything.
With the help of a video game legend, a serial entrepreneur, and many other colorful characters, Luckey’s scrappy start-up kick-starts a revolution and sets out to bring VR to the masses. As with most underdog stories, things don’t quite go according to plan. But what happens next turns out to be the ultimate entrepreneurial journey: a tale of battles won and lost, lessons learned, and never-ending twists and turns - including an unlikely multibillion-dollar acquisition by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg that shakes up the landscape in Silicon Valley and gives Oculus the chance to forever change our reality.
Drawing on more than 100 interviews with the key players driving this revolution, The History of the Future weaves together a rich, cinematic narrative that captures the breakthroughs, breakdowns, and human drama of trying to change the world. The result is a super accessible and supremely entertaining look at the birth of a game-changing new industry.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2019 Blake J. Harris (P)2019 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Remember Why You Got Into Computing
- By Dan Collins on 07-01-16
By: Steven Levy
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Control Freak
- My Epic Adventure Making Video Games
- By: Cliff Bleszinski
- Narrated by: Kurt Kanazawa
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Video games are dominating the planet. In 2020, they brought in $180 billion dollars globally—nearly $34 billion in the United States alone. So who are the brilliant designers who create these stunning virtual worlds? Cliff Bleszinski—or CliffyB as he is known to gamers—is one of the few who’ve reached mythical, rock-star status. In Control Freak, he gives an unvarnished, all-access tour of the business.
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5 star book, but obnoxious
- By Rodney on 06-10-23
By: Cliff Bleszinski
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Fight, Magic, Items
- The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the Rise of Japanese RPGs in the West
- By: Aidan Moher
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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The Japanese roleplaying game (JRPG) genre is one that is known for bold, unforgettable characters; rich stories; and some of the most iconic and beloved games in the industry. Inspired by early Western RPGs and introducing technology and artistic styles that pushed the boundaries of what video games could be, this genre is responsible for creating some of the most complex, bold, and beloved games in history. In Fight, Magic, Items, Aidan Moher guides listeners through the history of JRPGs.
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Excellent history of the JRPG genre
- By Cyrus on 08-14-23
By: Aidan Moher
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All Your Base Are Belong to Us
- How Fifty Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture
- By: Harold Goldberg
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Through the stories of gaming's greatest innovations and most-beloved creations, journalist Harold Goldberg captures the creativity, controversy - and passion - behind the videogame's meteoric rise to the top of the pop-culture pantheon. Over the last 50 years, video games have grown from curiosities to fads to trends to one of the world's most popular forms of mass entertainment.
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A History of Game Developers, Not Games
- By Brandon on 05-06-16
By: Harold Goldberg
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The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 1
- From Pong to Pokemon and Beyond . . . The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World
- By: Steven L. Kent
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 23 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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With all the whiz, bang, pop, and shimmer of a glowing arcade, volume 1 of The Ultimate History of Video Games reveals everything you ever wanted to know and more about the unforgettable games that changed the world, the visionaries who made them, and the fanatics who played them. Starting in arcades then moving to televisions and handheld devices, the video game invasion has entranced kids and the young at heart for nearly fifty years. And gaming historian Steven L. Kent has been there to record the craze from the very beginning.
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Misleading title for an otherwise excellent book
- By CJ on 09-26-23
By: Steven L. Kent
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Replay
- The History of Video Games
- By: Tristan Donovan, Richard Garriott
- Narrated by: Gary Furlong
- Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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A riveting account of the birth and remarkable evolution of the most important development in entertainment since television, Replay is the ultimate history of video games. From its origins in the research labs of the 1940s to the groundbreaking success of the Wii, Replay sheds new light on gaming's past.
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Excellent Book
- By Devin on 01-17-18
By: Tristan Donovan, and others
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Disrupting the Game
- From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo
- By: Reggie Fils-Aimé
- Narrated by: Reggie Fils-Aimé
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Reggie Fils-Aimé, retired President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America Inc., shares leadership lessons and inspiring stories from his unlikely rise to the top. Learn from Reggie how to leverage disruptive thinking to pinpoint the life choices that will make you truly happy, conquer negative perceptions from those who underestimate or outright dismiss you, and master the grit, perseverance, and resilience it takes to dominate in the business world and to reach your professional dreams.
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Engaging Autobiography
- By Ryan on 12-07-22
By: Reggie Fils-Aimé
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MCU
- The Reign of Marvel Studios
- By: Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, Gavin Edwards
- Narrated by: Andrew Kishino, Joanna Robinson
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Marvel Entertainment was a moribund toymaker not even twenty years ago. Today, Marvel Studios is the dominant player both in Hollywood and in global pop culture. How did an upstart studio conquer the world? In MCU, beloved culture writers Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards draw on more than a hundred interviews with actors, producers, directors, and writers to present the definitive chronicle of Marvel Studios and its sole ongoing production, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Puff piece.
- By Habu1271 on 10-26-23
By: Joanna Robinson, and others
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Play Nice
- The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment
- By: Jason Schreier
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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For video game fans, the name Blizzard Entertainment was once synonymous with perfection. The renowned company behind classics like Diablo and World of Warcraft was known to celebrate the joy of gaming over all else. What was once two UCLA students' simple mission—to make games they wanted to play—launched an empire with thousands of employees, millions of fans, and billions of dollars. But when Blizzard cancelled a buzzy project in 2013, it gave Bobby Kotick, the infamous CEO of corporate parent Activision, the excuse he needed to start cracking down on Blizzard's proud autonomy.
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Just ok
- By TH on 11-17-24
By: Jason Schreier
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The Singularity Is Nearer
- When We Merge with AI
- By: Ray Kurzweil
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Since it was first published in 2005, Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near and its vision of the future have been influential in spawning a worldwide movement with millions of followers, hundreds of books, major films, and thousands of articles. During the succeeding decade, many of Kurzweil's predictions about technological advancements have been borne out, and their viability has become familiar to the public through such now commonplace concepts. In this entirely new book Ray Kurzweil brings a fresh perspective to advances in the singularity.
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victory lap
- By Anonymous User on 06-30-24
By: Ray Kurzweil
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Co-Intelligence
- Living and Working with AI
- By: Ethan Mollick
- Narrated by: Ethan Mollick
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Something new entered our world in November 2022—the first general purpose AI that could pass for a human and do the kinds of creative, innovative work that only humans could do previously. Wharton professor Ethan Mollick immediately understood what ChatGPT meant: after millions of years on our own, humans had developed a kind of co-intelligence that could augment, or even replace, human thinking. Through his writing, speaking, and teaching, Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI.
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great intro book marred by poor narration
- By Amazon Customer on 04-14-24
By: Ethan Mollick
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The Coming Wave
- AI, Power, and Our Future
- By: Mustafa Suleyman, Michael Bhaskar - contributor
- Narrated by: Mustafa Suleyman
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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We are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Everything is about to change. Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organize your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy.
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Click bait
- By Buyer on 09-11-23
By: Mustafa Suleyman, and others
What listeners say about The History of the Future
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- David Romero
- 03-04-19
Cinematic - Recommended for VR enthusiasts
Extremely cinimatic and dramatized - helpful for communicating VR. Impersonation of Antonov's character a bit racist.
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- JC
- 05-03-19
true story of American dream what one believer can
inspirational but scary. real life example of how free speech even thought is being shutdown
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- Tyler
- 03-01-19
Changed my mind on many fronts
Incredible story, very well-written and engaging. Does an excellent job of opening your mind to beliefs you may strongly hold. They'll make a movie of this, mark my word.
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- Joe Deutsch
- 06-27-19
What an interesting dive into the resurgence of VR
extremely riveting book, Loved how they described the shady work of the daily beast and journalists as a whole today.
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- B. Daryl
- 05-26-19
Loved this book
This is a relatively long audiobook, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. I may not be the most unbiased reviewer because I am extremely interested in this topic, and this book provided many new insights. Toward the end I had the feeling that there is likely more to the story, but I understand that the author's access became more limited for the latter parts of the history. I hope this book gets updated periodically, since the story of Oculus continues to evolve.
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- Anthony Marino
- 10-22-19
NotA Gamer!
I had no idea of the entire situation... Because I didn’t have any idea of the players involved... it was a mystery novel... I really enjoyed every minute.
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- Andy W
- 06-09-19
An amazing book! Will be a classic.
Entrepreneurship, technology, business, politics....it is by far the best book I have read or listened to in awhile. Filled with so many insights felt like I was in the conversations. A classic for me in the quality of Liar's Poker.
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- eric stentzel
- 06-07-19
super engaging
Couldn't put it down! Very well written and read! It is amazing to see from start to finish how vr and Oculus started.
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- Chris
- 04-25-19
Great story of America
Wow what a great American entrepreneurial adventure. Palmer is inspirational. This story was worth my time.
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- Anonymous User
- 08-03-20
I just love this.
No really, I loved it. wish it wasn't over. Great narration also. A story I followed personally and learned a lot more about from the book.
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