The New Association of Webmasters: Mark Zuckerberg Wants to Replace Your Phone With Glasses (And He's Been Working on It for 10 Years
Sunday, June 21, 2026
Mark Zuckerberg Wants to Replace Your Phone With Glasses (And He's Been Working on It for 10 Years
Here is my best article: "AI Under Trump’s Control: Can France Still Avoid Digital Dependence?"<br>"10 years of work, right there."
That's how Mark Zuckerberg greeted me as he placed a pair of glasses on the table. They look like any stylish frame. But inside, there's literally a holographic computer.
A member of his team calls them "the real-life Tony Stark glasses." And honestly, once you see them, you understand why.
What You Need to Understand First
Mark Zuckerberg and Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) are building what they believe will be the next major computing platform after the phone.
Not a headset. Not a tablet.
Glasses.
Glasses that project holograms into the real world. Glasses that let you feel "present" with someone on the other side of the planet. Glasses that see what you see, hear what you hear, and could become your personal AI-powered assistant.
It sounds like science fiction. But I tried them. And it's real.
The Problem Zuckerberg Wants to Solve (That Affects All of Us)
Zuckerberg cited a statistic that stuck with me:
«"The average American has fewer friends today than they did 15 years ago."»
And the numbers are even more striking:
- Time spent socializing in person has dropped by 30% among American adults.<br>- For ages 15 to 24, it's nearly 70%.<br>- The number of people who say they have no close friends has jumped from 3% to 12% in 30 years.
His argument is simple: people want more connection, not less. But life has gotten more complicated. Families are spread out. Schedules are packed.
What if technology could fix that, instead of making it worse?
«"It's not that people spend more time online and less time with friends. It's that they already don't have as much connection as they'd like. Giving people the ability to be present with loved ones who are far away — that's a gain, not a loss."»
The Glasses That Change Everything (That Almost No One Has Seen)
Meta has developed three product lines that will coexist:
Product| What It Is| Who It's For<br>Ray-Ban Meta| Display-less glasses with camera, mic, and built-in AI| Everyone (already on sale)<br>Orion| Full holographic glasses with a 70° field of view| The future (current prototype)<br>Quest 3S| Mixed reality headset at $299| Gamers and enthusiasts
What's interesting is that Zuckerberg doesn't see these products as competing. He sees them as different answers to different needs.
The Ray-Ban Metas, for example, are affordable and stylish. They have no display, but you can talk to them, they talk back, and they translate in real time.
Orion, on the other hand, is the "holy grail" : glasses that project holograms.
I tried a ping-pong demo. At the end, I placed my paddle on the virtual table. It shattered.
That's the kind of detail that shows how powerful the illusion really is.
Why Holograms Matter More Than Video
Zuckerberg keeps coming back to one word:
Presence.
Today, when you video call someone, you see them, but you don't feel like they're there.
With holograms, that changes.
You can:<br>- Play chess with someone on the other side of the world.<br>- Work together on a project as if you're in the same room.<br>- See the person life-sized, not on a screen.
«"It's not about replacing physical connection. It's about adding connections that don't exist today."»
Of course, there are limits. Touch, for example, is hard to replicate.
«"I want to hug my mom. And yeah, haptics is hard."»
But Zuckerberg believes we can already do a lot with hands, voice, and eye contact. And the rest will come with time.
AI: Between Powerful Tool and Legitimate Fear
Zuckerberg sees two big directions for AI at Meta:
1. Personalized AI
An assistant that knows you, understands your context, and helps you daily.
2. AI in Glasses
A system that sees what you see and hears what you hear.
On paper, it's convenient. But it raises questions.
The Education Dilemma
Zuckerberg admitted he still wonders how to educate his kids in a world where AI can do almost everything.
«"Should we still teach coding? In my opinion, yes. Because coding teaches you to think rigorously. Even if AI writes the code, that reasoning ability is valuable."»
And what about languages?
«"With real-time translation, is it still useful to learn a language? Maybe not, functionally. But you also learn a culture, a way of thinking. It's a choice."»
The "AI Influencer" Specter
Zuckerberg imagines a future where every creator has their own AI assistant that interacts with their community in their absence.
«"A creator can't respond to everyone. With an AI trained on their content, their community can interact with them even when they're asleep."»
He's careful to clarify: this isn't the creator themselves. It's a digital...