Jaron Lanier Got Everything Wrong  Jaron Lanier helped create
virtual reality, all the way down to "VR” headsets and handgear.
Smithsonian Magazine called him an 1980s "Silicon Valley
digital-guru rock star." Lanier was regularly featured in Wired
Magazine, particularly during its early, glory days. Nearly 30
years before the introduction of Google Glass, Lanier saw deep
into a future where individuals could access virtual worlds.
Lanier’s sizable vision, however, appears to have resulted in
few actual usable products - nor much in the way of human
advancement.  In 1985, Jaron Zepel Lanier and Thomas G.
Zimmerman left their jobs at Atari and founded VPL Research. VPL
was the first company to sell VR goggles and accessories. (The
company filed for bankruptcy in 1990.) Lanier was later a
“visiting scholar” at Silicon Graphics, served as an advisor to
Linden Lab - makers of "shared creative spaces" and the much-
hyped Second Life virtual world - and has also worked as
“scholar-at-large” on Microsoft's Kinect cont