Mark Zuckerberg Pursued Oculus Over Several Months ⇥ recode.net

Recode’s Kara Swisher has a look inside the deal-making process behind Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR:

“I had thought it would be Google, that would have not surprised me,” said one person close to the situation. “But Facebook sees this as a major new platform for the future and wants to build on it.”

Indeed, and not for just gaming, as some have noted already. Many think there are a myriad of ways such devices can be deployed, well beyond games, in the same way tablets and even smartphones have developed.

It seemed a bit cute when, in 2012, a social networking website filed for an IPO. It’s become very clear that Facebook doesn’t strive to be a website, but rather a Google-esque umbrella company with dozens of different ways to gain users (not customers) and, therefore, sell ads against.

But perhaps this Oculus deal marks a serious foray into hardware sales. While the HTC First was a pretty half-assed attempt, the Oculus is an innovative product that’s already semi-available. A friend of mine has a first-generation development kit and it’s a pretty amazing experience. He isn’t so stoked for this deal, though.