Happy Tuesday,

It's Friday evening, the day before I'm taking my kids to this indoor waterpark in Anaheim that I've been hyping for a few weeks now.

When I look down at a notification on my phone, "Covid Update

Dear parents, this message is to inform you that a child in classroom 10 has tested positive for Covid..... "

Just like that our waterpark trip evaporated and to top it off, our daughter would be home all week.

My daughter and I have taken some over the counter tests, negative, so we're in the clear, but it's a reminder that Covid is still here.

Life is not back to "normal" yet, and it looks like it won't be ever, because the world has changed.

Space billionaires and our anger

Many, many people don't like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos going to space.

It's not hard to find articles, tweets, and comments saying the billionaires shouldn't be wasting money on space joy rides — or that Elon should focus on fixing Earth, not going to Mars.

I find this anger fascinating.

There are almost 3,000 billionaires on planet Earth and what are they doing?

Who knows, who cares?

So why space? Why do we get angry when billionaires spend money to advance space flight and Mars colonization?

Is it the pure amount spent?

I present to you the History Supreme.

This is the most expensive yacht in the world at 4.8 billion dollars, owned by Malaysian Billionaire Robert Kuok.

Who? What?

Exactly. You didn't know. You don't care.

Elon Musk invested 100 Million to get SpaceX going almost 20 years ago. Since then many investors have added to the total amount invested to bring it to just over 6 billion invested. Barely more than one pissing contest yacht.

Now 6 billion is a lot of money, but it wasn't lit on fire. SpaceX has brought US astronauts to the International Space Station for a fraction of the costs we previously paid. That's some nice savings for the US taxpayers.

The anger is less about Mars or billionaires "wasting money" and more around the decline of nation-state's importance in the world.

It's not NASA that's radically pushing the space industry forward, it's private companies.

The US and other large nations are waning in importance, and can't seem to accomplish big things anymore. There's big problems on the horizon and people are losing faith in the old institutions to solve them.

But they don't like the new world that's developing.

There's no better example of an old institution chastising the new than Prince William's chiding remarks towards the space billionaires.

I don't want to be ruled by a conglomerate of multi-national companies, but I do like advancements in space.

Next time you hear someone angry about space billionaires, just dig a little deeper. Are they actually angry at something else? Is it fear of change?

That's my guess.

🌐 Metaverse Medley

In a slight departure from my normal format, here' some quick hits on virtual reality and the Metaverse.

Accenture acquires 60,000 Oculus headsets to train staff
​This is the largest single purchase of headsets. Maybe VR is breaking into the enterprise space?
​VR World Tech​

Facebook to hire 10,000 Europeans to work on the Metaverse​
They want to instill European values into the Metaverse from day one. ZDNET​

Meditate with the HTC Vive Flow?

I don't know who the target market is here, but HTC is launching a lightweight VR headset for casual media consumption and.... meditation? vive​

Galaxy Interactive raises 325 million to fund gaming and the Metaverse
​The Santa Monica group has already invested in gaming startups, interactive media companies, sports VR and more.
​Forbes​

How do you feel about space billionaires?

Am I onto something here? Let me know. Just hit reply, I read and respond to everyone!
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Have an awesome week and see you next Tuesday!

Daniel
​

What you’ve given me is the most profound experience I can imagine.
William Shatner​
​read / watch everything William Shatner said

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