by Matthew Ball
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER — United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and China (Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Nielsen Bookscan, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, BookNet Canada, Bookseller.com, Bookdao/Nielsen, JD, DangDang)
Tim Sweeney (CEO of Fortnite-maker Epic Games): "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."
Derek Thompson (Atlantic staff writer and national best-selling author of Hit Makers): "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."
From the leading theorist of the Metaverse comes the definitive account of the next internet: what the Metaverse is, what it will take to build it, and what it means for all of us.
The term "Metaverse" is suddenly everywhere, from the front pages of national newspapers and the latest fashion trends to the plans of the most powerful companies in history. It is already shaping the policy platforms of the US government, the European Union, and the Chinese Communist Party.
But what, exactly, is the Metaverse? As pioneering theorist and venture capitalist Matthew Ball explains, it is a persistent and interconnected network of 3D virtual worlds that will eventually serve as the gateway to most online experiences, and also underpin much of the physical world. For decades, these ideas have been limited to science fiction and video games, but they are now poised to revolutionize every industry and function, from finance and healthcare to education, consumer products, city planning, dating, and well beyond.
Taking us on an expansive tour of the "next internet," Ball demonstrates that many proto-Metaverses are already here, such as Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox. Yet these offer only a glimpse of what is to come. Ball presents a comprehensive definition of the Metaverse before explaining the technologies that will power it—and the breakthroughs that will be necessary to fully realize it. He addresses the governance challenges the Metaverse entails; investigates the role of Web3, blockchains, and NFTs; and predicts Metaverse winners and losers. Most importantly, he examines many of the Metaverse's almost unlimited applications.
The internet will no longer be at arm's length; instead, it will surround us, with much of our lives, labor, and leisure taking place inside the Metaverse. Bringing clarity and authority to a frequently misunderstood concept, Ball foresees trillions of dollars in new value—and the radical reshaping of society.
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER — United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and China (Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Nielsen Bookscan, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, BookNet Canada, Bookseller.com, Bookdao/Nielsen, JD, DangDang)
Tim Sweeney (CEO of Fortnite-maker Epic Games): "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."
Derek Thompson (Atlantic staff writer and national best-selling author of Hit Makers): "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."
From the leading theorist of the Metaverse comes the definitive account of the next internet: what the Metaverse is, what it will take to build it, and what it means for all of us.
The term "Metaverse" is suddenly everywhere, from the front pages of national newspapers and the latest fashion trends to the plans of the most powerful companies in history. It is already shaping the policy platforms of the US government, the European Union, and the Chinese Communist Party.
But what, exactly, is the Metaverse? As pioneering theorist and venture capitalist Matthew Ball explains, it is a persistent and interconnected network of 3D virtual worlds that will eventually serve as the gateway to most online experiences, and also underpin much of the physical world. For decades, these ideas have been limited to science fiction and video games, but they are now poised to revolutionize every industry and function, from finance and healthcare to education, consumer products, city planning, dating, and well beyond.
Taking us on an expansive tour of the "next internet," Ball demonstrates that many proto-Metaverses are already here, such as Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox. Yet these offer only a glimpse of what is to come. Ball presents a comprehensive definition of the Metaverse before explaining the technologies that will power it—and the breakthroughs that will be necessary to fully realize it. He addresses the governance challenges the Metaverse entails; investigates the role of Web3, blockchains, and NFTs; and predicts Metaverse winners and losers. Most importantly, he examines many of the Metaverse's almost unlimited applications.
The internet will no longer be at arm's length; instead, it will surround us, with much of our lives, labor, and leisure taking place inside the Metaverse. Bringing clarity and authority to a frequently misunderstood concept, Ball foresees trillions of dollars in new value—and the radical reshaping of society.
Reviews-
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February 1, 2022
Having revealed Harvey Weinstein's violent behavior two decades ago in a New Yorker profile, Auletta asks in Hollywood Ending whether Weinstein's sexual predation can be attributed to himself alone or to the Hollywood power game--and why it took so long to challenge it. Tech theorist and venture capitalist Ball explains The Metaverse as a three-dimensional network of interconnected experiences and devices, tools and infrastructure that transcends virtual reality and has the capacity to reshape society. In Nobody Is Protected, Geopolitics editor in chief Jones (Border Walls) tracks the U.S. Border Patrol from its brutal early days to its current power to conduct warrantless stops and interrogations within 100 miles of the border, arguing that it is trampling on the Fourth Amendment in its bid to become a national police force. From New York Times best-selling, National Magazine Award-winning Leibovich (This Town), Thank You for Your Servitude critiques the cult of submission in the Republican Party that allowed Donald Trump to flourish. A veteran of the U.S. intelligence community's Combating Terrorism program, the Black, Arabic-speaking Nance shifts his focus from al Qaeda and ISIS to the threat posed by the January 6, 2021, insurrectionists and their supporters--privileged, he argues, by their whiteness--in They Want To Kill Americans (200,000-copy first printing).
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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June 1, 2022
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.COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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July 11, 2022
In this thorough guide to the future of the internet, Ball, the former global head of strategy for Amazon Studios, introduces readers to the metaverse, “a massively scaled and interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds that can be experienced synchronously and persistently by an effectively unlimited number of users.” In the first section, Ball explores some of the metaverse’s precursors, which largely consist of online video games such as Minecraft and Fortnite that allow players from all over the world to jump into the same in-game locations and have a shared experience. The second part covers technological challenges to making the metaverse a reality, notably outdated infrastructure and a lack of low-latency connections (which are required to efficiently transmit large amounts of data through a network). The final section predicts how metaverse technology might change people’s lives: education and dating could be reimagined, he posits, and the most exciting prognostications are for the entertainment business, where filmmakers are using real-time rendering engines for sets and greater interactivity is coming for movies and TV shows. Informative and accessible, this is worth a look for anyone curious about what’s around the digital corner. Agent: Pilar Queen, UTA. - Steven Poole;Wall Street Journal 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.
- The Economist 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.
- Gene Park, reporter, Washington Post 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.
- John Thornhill;Financial Times [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.
- Cecilia D'Anastasio;Bloomberg 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
- Jonathan A. Knee;Business Insider 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.
- Tyler Cowen;Conversations with Tyler 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.
- Dean Takahashi;VentureBeat [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.
- Charlie Fink, Forbes.com [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...
