I tried Zuckerberg's $800 Ray-Bans. Are they the future? With Alex Heath

Channels with Peter Kafka

Vox Media Podcast Network

Business News, News, Tv & Film, Technology

4.4 • 585 Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A year ago I got try a pair of $10,000 computer goggles from Meta. The tech was super-impressive, but you couldn’t buy them them. You still can’t. Now Mark Zuckerberg is trying a similar idea. But this time around the the tech is scaled-down, lighter and way cheaper: the new version costs $800, and you’ll be able to buy them in a couple days. Why would you want to wear a computer on your face - no matter how much it costs and how much they weigh? And why do all the big tech companies keep trying to make this happen? I have some ideas, but Alex Heath is deeply sourced on this stuff, so asked him. Up until this week, Alex was a star tech reporter at The Verge. Now he’s off on his own, with Access (a podcast) and Sources (a Substack). He’s kicking off his foray into indie media with a long interview with Zuckerberg, so we used that as a jumping off point to talk about Zuckerberg’s political shift, his AI obsession, and his big bet on wearable tech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:00.7	from the vox media podcast network it's channels with Peter Kafka.
1:13.6	That is me.
1:14.3	I'm also chief correspondent at Business Insider.
1:17.9	Today's show comes to you from Silicon Valley, where I'm spending a few days and where AI is obviously everywhere.
1:25.5	I'm recording this episode shortly after trying on Mark Zuckerberg's newest creation.
1:30.5	It's a face computer you can actually buy.
1:33.4	They are a souped up version of the meta-rayband glasses.
1:37.0	He's been selling for a few years now.
1:39.1	And the big difference is that these things have a display on the right screen
1:43.3	so you can be looking at something in real life and also read a text message or look at a map or whatever at the same time.
1:50.0	They're going to start at $800.
1:53.0	Whether people want to buy these things and why meta is making them at all is part of the discussion I'm having today with Alex Heath, who until very
2:01.9	recently was the Virges Star Tech Reporter. As we discussed today, he's now going off on his own.
2:07.6	You'll be able to hear and watch him at Access, his video and audio podcast, and read him
	...

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