I liked Quest2. It gave me noticeable mental fatigue/wore me out the first couple half hours I used it but it’s bothered me less since. I think the graphics qualify and UI is ‘good enough’ for the platform/tech to maintain and grow traction. But some family members found it disorienting on first try and never wanted to mess with it again. That does limit the market. And it probably is the biggest issue as you say.
I noticed three other constraints that were inhibiting success:
1) Not a lot of free fun mindless apps. The platform seems to really steer you to $30 apps as its business model. I respect that, would rather pay up front than be the product, but it limits adoption/addiction/stickiness. (Of course with Meta you might end up being both.) Never had patience to venture into the side loading world.
2) Kids under 13 are not supposed to use it. Not sure why but I believe it may have interfere with visual development (and I believe it), and I limited my kids use significantly. This limits the kid adoption/addiction/stickiness dynamic seen with, say, YouTube.
3) Creep factor. Your every move is tied to your real Facebook name. I was always conscious my every move and sight was visible to Facebook. It’s true you are tracked/with the web/internet but in a less direct way. I suspect, but don’t know that this inhibits people using it for porn, which also limits adoption/addictiveness/stickiness.
Beyond those three, two more thoughts…
As many have discussed, I’m not sure what the killer app is, but a bit to my surprise I’m not sure it is critical… There were a number of fun different unique experiences (Beat Saber, etc) so I think it may work out without one big one.
I also found that casting the screen to Chrome didn’t work a lot of the time which limited my family’s ability to enjoy it together and help each other.
Which makes sense, you want your users to be able to really take in the graphical glory of the Metaverse.