5 ms·

I saw that video (as everyone did) and I'm on the camp that Humane did not deserve that. I would never get a (v1) Humane pin but, all things considered, is a s

I saw that video (as everyone did) and I'm on the camp that Humane did not deserve that. I would never get a (v1) Humane pin but, all things considered, is a somewhat decent product that had to go through it's mandatory share of R&D, product design, manufacturing, etc... One thing is to provide a review like "you know these are the current limitations of the thing, etc..." another one is to just bash it like a spoiled child. Marques has spoken much more favorably of much worse performing products. Anyway if you want the moralestapia's review of Humane, I think it opened up a new category of products and it's pretty decent for a first release. It doesn't give me any benefit over a regular smartphone right now, but I can definitely see hundreds of millions of these devices being worn by people (and dogs and whatnot) in the next decade (maybe not from Humane, who knows). I also really like the idea of "Ambient Computing", they did not create it but they embraced it, and that is quite nice.

bryanlarsen 3y ago
MKB's review may be beneficial for them in the end by establishing a low baseline. In comparison to the MKB review of V1, V2 and V3 reviews may be glowing and help sell product.
- coffeebeqn 3y ago
  If they survive this. I’m sure they had an absurd amount of investment to blow through over the next decade like Magic Leap
JohnFen 3y ago
> I can definitely see hundreds of millions of these devices being worn by people (and dogs and whatnot) in the next decade Good lord, so many people I'd have to avoid being around. I really hate this future we're building.
- coffeebeqn 3y ago
  What - you don’t want big tech (and their intelligence partners) tracking your every move with facial recognition from 4k “AI” cameras on every lapel?
bevekspldnw 3y ago
Deserve? They are asking $700 up front and then $24/mo just to keep it working. MKBHD job is not to do PR for tech companies, it’s to tell his viewers if they should spend their hard earned cash in a product. Humane shipped dog shit and got dog shit reviews. Big deal.
Analemma_ 3y ago
Humane is not a scrappy little underdog. They have a quarter-billion in VC funding, more than enough to know that this product simply was not even remotely fit for purpose at this time, but they chose to release it anyway (for seven hundred dollars!), almost certainly because they wanted to get some sucker dollars while the AI hype wave was at its peak. Sympathy for them is profoundly misplaced: they tried to dump a bag on the public, and you're getting mad at the people pointing out that the emperor has no clothes.
- vineyardmike 3y ago
  Not to mention the founder was a UX leader at Apple during the invention of the iPod and iPhone. Surely he knows better.
  - ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago
    Nah. UX leaders are usually the worst performers at big tech. They usually make terrible product decisions as a whole.
vineyardmike 3y ago
> One thing is to provide a review like "you know these are the current limitations of the thing, etc..." The current limitations seem to be that it doesn’t work? He did say that the product had potential, if it achieved its own vision. But also reviewers fairly review the product at hand, not what the product could evolve to be.
- coffeebeqn 3y ago
  It’s a very bold price point. I guess the closest analogue in pricing is a high end smartphone + cellular contract. Or a mid-high end laptop with a home internet contract. Definitely not a price people are looking to pay for something that might be useful someday
mikestew 3y ago
It doesn't give me any benefit over a regular smartphone right now... But for $700 up front, and $24/month, you think Humane "did not deserve" a bad review? For $700 and a subscription, one does not get to be "aspirational", that shit better work. Apple released a device 17 years ago for very similar pricing, the world thought it would flop, and that device actually worked as advertised.
- rrr_oh_man 3y ago
  Which device are you talking about?
  - mikestew 3y ago
    Which device did Apple introduce 17 years ago? Spoiler: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone
    - rrr_oh_man 3y ago
      Okay, but I'm honestly not sure about > the world thought it would flop My personal bubble was absolutely raving about the iPhone. (Although I personally was heavily flirting with the Palm Pre at the time)
      - mikestew 3y ago
        Fair enough; "the world" might have been too broad a statement. The first-gen iPhone certainly had its share of critics, though, starting with the price of $500-ish (IIRC) when all other phones were subsidized by carriers in the U. S., and Edge connections speeds when 3G was becoming a thing. But a quick flip to another Wikipedia page says it received mostly positive reviews, so maybe my bubble needs recalibrating. :-)
mcphage 3y ago
> I'm on the camp that Humane did not deserve that. By "that", do you mean, "an honest assessment of the product that is being sold for $700 + $24/month"? It's great that it opened up a new category of products, but you're not purchasing the category of products, you're purchasing a specific product. If that specific product does not succeed, then you don't give it an attaboy because it's a cool idea.

bryanlarsen 3y ago

MKB's review may be beneficial for them in the end by establishing a low baseline. In comparison to the MKB review of V1, V2 and V3 reviews may be glowing and help sell product.

coffeebeqn 3y ago
If they survive this. I’m sure they had an absurd amount of investment to blow through over the next decade like Magic Leap

JohnFen 3y ago

> I can definitely see hundreds of millions of these devices being worn by people (and dogs and whatnot) in the next decade Good lord, so many people I'd have to avoid being around. I really hate this future we're building.

coffeebeqn 3y ago
What - you don’t want big tech (and their intelligence partners) tracking your every move with facial recognition from 4k “AI” cameras on every lapel?

bevekspldnw 3y ago

Deserve? They are asking $700 up front and then $24/mo just to keep it working. MKBHD job is not to do PR for tech companies, it’s to tell his viewers if they should spend their hard earned cash in a product. Humane shipped dog shit and got dog shit reviews. Big deal.

Analemma_ 3y ago

Humane is not a scrappy little underdog. They have a quarter-billion in VC funding, more than enough to know that this product simply was not even remotely fit for purpose at this time, but they chose to release it anyway (for seven hundred dollars!), almost certainly because they wanted to get some sucker dollars while the AI hype wave was at its peak. Sympathy for them is profoundly misplaced: they tried to dump a bag on the public, and you're getting mad at the people pointing out that the emperor has no clothes.

vineyardmike 3y ago
Not to mention the founder was a UX leader at Apple during the invention of the iPod and iPhone. Surely he knows better.
- ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago
  Nah. UX leaders are usually the worst performers at big tech. They usually make terrible product decisions as a whole.

vineyardmike 3y ago

> One thing is to provide a review like "you know these are the current limitations of the thing, etc..." The current limitations seem to be that it doesn’t work? He did say that the product had potential, if it achieved its own vision. But also reviewers fairly review the product at hand, not what the product could evolve to be.

coffeebeqn 3y ago
It’s a very bold price point. I guess the closest analogue in pricing is a high end smartphone + cellular contract. Or a mid-high end laptop with a home internet contract. Definitely not a price people are looking to pay for something that might be useful someday

mikestew 3y ago

It doesn't give me any benefit over a regular smartphone right now... But for $700 up front, and $24/month, you think Humane "did not deserve" a bad review? For $700 and a subscription, one does not get to be "aspirational", that shit better work. Apple released a device 17 years ago for very similar pricing, the world thought it would flop, and that device actually worked as advertised.

rrr_oh_man 3y ago
Which device are you talking about?
- mikestew 3y ago
  Which device did Apple introduce 17 years ago? Spoiler: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone
  - rrr_oh_man 3y ago
    Okay, but I'm honestly not sure about > the world thought it would flop My personal bubble was absolutely raving about the iPhone. (Although I personally was heavily flirting with the Palm Pre at the time)
    - mikestew 3y ago
      Fair enough; "the world" might have been too broad a statement. The first-gen iPhone certainly had its share of critics, though, starting with the price of $500-ish (IIRC) when all other phones were subsidized by carriers in the U. S., and Edge connections speeds when 3G was becoming a thing. But a quick flip to another Wikipedia page says it received mostly positive reviews, so maybe my bubble needs recalibrating. :-)

mcphage 3y ago

> I'm on the camp that Humane did not deserve that. By "that", do you mean, "an honest assessment of the product that is being sold for $700 + $24/month"? It's great that it opened up a new category of products, but you're not purchasing the category of products, you're purchasing a specific product. If that specific product does not succeed, then you don't give it an attaboy because it's a cool idea.