When The Fourth Wave by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel burst onto the scene in 2016, I had just started writing about XR. Scoble’s sweeping vision of the future shaped my thinking and fueled the enthusiasm to write my own book, Charlie Fink’s Metaverse, which came out just thirteen months later. But nearly a decade and one too many hype cycles later, I’ve lost my XR religion. I know too much about how the sausage is made. Scoble, however—now partnered with researcher and consultant Irena Cronin—was just getting started.
Reading The Infinite Retina (Second Edition), I was reminded why I enjoy Scoble’s breezy, conversational way of unpacking complex ideas so much. It’s a perfect counterpoint to Cronin’s measured, analytical approach. Their combined expertise is essential for a book that attempts to map an enormous and ever-evolving landscape—Spatial Computing, AI, the Metaverse, self-driving cars, virtual beings, and the ways technology will shape the rest of our lives. It’s a book that makes you want to believe.
Cronin and Scoble succeed in not only explaining but contextualizing the shift from screens to the world around us. They use “Spatial Computing” as an umbrella term to connect AI, AR, VR, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and digital assistants, illustrating how these technologies are converging to redefine human-computer interaction. Yet, they also acknowledge the dizzying pace of change—where bold predictions can become obsolete before the ink dries.
The book is structured around seven industry verticals that the authors argue will be transformed by Spatial Computing: transportation, media and telecom, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, finance, and education. Each sector is already undergoing disruption, but The Infinite Retina suggests we’re just getting started. Autonomous vehicles will redefine mobility, media will shift from flat screens to immersive experiences, factories will become increasingly AI-powered, and retail will blend personalization with automated logistics. Meanwhile, healthcare will integrate real-time AI diagnostics, finance will embrace 3D data visualization, and education will transition from passive learning to immersive, interactive environments.
Cronin and Scoble’s enthusiasm is infectious. If students read books anymore, I’d assign this in a heartbeat. The Infinite Retina is an expansive, highly readable survey of the forces shaping our digital future. That’s both its greatest strength and its biggest weakness. The sheer breadth of topics covered means some ideas inevitably get broad strokes instead of deep dives. Then there’s the occasional hyperbole—statements like “mobile phones will soon give way to headsets” made me wince. I once said things like that, too.
In fairness, the book isn’t trying to be a measured, cautious news story. It’s a celebration of possibility. And despite my skepticism, it made me excited about my job all over again.
