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I'm really into AI stuff but both the AI Pin and Rabbit R1 underwhelm. They are products that don't need to exist if the problem they're solving was truly solva

I'm really into AI stuff but both the AI Pin and Rabbit R1 underwhelm. They are products that don't need to exist if the problem they're solving was truly solvable right now, because the best place for that problem to be solved is already in our hands: our phones. But we're not all talking to AI assistants in our phones all day. Why? Because the technology isn't good enough to do it yet? Because people don't want to talk to digital assistants? Once the tech is good enough that it can motivate ordinary people to look silly talking to their phones outloud, it'll be on our phones and easy to use, and there will be no need for kitschy little handheld devices. No one wants to carry around another device. That said, smart glasses sound like a great idea to me, but I wear glasses all ay long, so I am extremely biased. I don't think most people want to voluntarily wear glasses to just put a computer on their face, so I wouldn't bet on glasses, either. Sorry, Zuck.

ENGNR 2y ago
Because the phone platforms want 30% of everything sold and won’t let your app change its behaviour. It’s the same reason YouTube and Netflix actively opted out of having their iPads apps work on Vision Pro - platform wars. So the only real play is to be Apple/Android or try to bypass them by pretending there’s a new product category other than a phone and hope to get some small critical mass there.
azinman2 2y ago
I don’t know why I need to keep saying this, but the point of the pin is to replace phones. It’s meant for you to have access to digital services while staying in the moment and avoiding a screen. Many ppl are addicted to their smartphones, so they propose something different. You can like and prefer a phone but it’s their raison d’etre.
- _heimdall 2y ago
  To be fair, it seems reasonable to presume that the goal of these pins is to get users addicted to the new form factor with much less competition in the market rather than to help with tech addiction.
imiric 2y ago
It wasn't that long ago that it wasn't socially acceptable to have phone conversations in public wearing Bluetooth ear pieces, whereas now we don't think twice about it. A few decades before that, the same thing with portable music players and headphones. Society adapts quickly to technology, but, as you say, the tech needs to be good first. I think we've reached that point with voice recognition and AI assistants. It's now a matter of time until someone connects the pieces into a functional and accessible product. The reason smartphones are not the devices to get us there is because they're not a good fit for this use case. Pulling out a rectangular slab with a huge screen out of your pocket every time you want to interact with a voice assistant is enough of a UX hurdle that most people won't do it, even if it would be socially acceptable. Even if this was in a watch form factor, which we'll surely see as well, just bringing your arm close to your face would get slightly annoying over time. So a light pebble device you can pin on your shirt or wear as a necklace seems like a good form factor for this. The Limitless Pendant is another recent contender, and seems like a better thought out product compared to the Humane Pin. These devices aim to be unobtrusive, and disappear into the background, yet still remain deeply integrated into our lives. This is what technology is trending towards. I reckon the smartphones of today will seem primitive in a few decades, replaced by seamless VR/AR in glasses and primarily voice-driven wearable tech. We're currently in this transitional period where companies are investing in high-risk products to see what sticks, but eventually someone will launch something that resonates. Just like Apple did for smartphones in 2007.
- mulderc 2y ago
  Why wouldn't the device just be your ear buds connected to your phone? I already use siri all the time as I usually have my AirPods in and it works great. That seems like a much more likely device to access our digital assistance than some necklace or pin. Better yet, you could just pair it with your smartwatch and not even need the phone. I'm still deeply skeptical on voice driven tech as we have had that available and easy to use from various devices for over a decade now and it hasn't taken off for tons of reasons. I just am not going to have a conversation with my computer with others around.
  - hbn 2y ago
vineyardmike 2y ago
So I agree generally, BUT existing phone companies have an incentive to maintain the app-centric world that keeps their app stores profitable, and app companies have an incentive to lock you into their app to keep customer loyalty and be “more than an API”. All that’s to say, the Rabbit idea of manually scripting against apps to allow “business as usual” for all these individual parties who wouldn’t want to collaborate fills a void that existing players don’t have incentives to fill.

ENGNR 2y ago

Because the phone platforms want 30% of everything sold and won’t let your app change its behaviour. It’s the same reason YouTube and Netflix actively opted out of having their iPads apps work on Vision Pro - platform wars. So the only real play is to be Apple/Android or try to bypass them by pretending there’s a new product category other than a phone and hope to get some small critical mass there.

azinman2 2y ago

I don’t know why I need to keep saying this, but the point of the pin is to replace phones. It’s meant for you to have access to digital services while staying in the moment and avoiding a screen. Many ppl are addicted to their smartphones, so they propose something different. You can like and prefer a phone but it’s their raison d’etre.

_heimdall 2y ago
To be fair, it seems reasonable to presume that the goal of these pins is to get users addicted to the new form factor with much less competition in the market rather than to help with tech addiction.

imiric 2y ago

It wasn't that long ago that it wasn't socially acceptable to have phone conversations in public wearing Bluetooth ear pieces, whereas now we don't think twice about it. A few decades before that, the same thing with portable music players and headphones. Society adapts quickly to technology, but, as you say, the tech needs to be good first. I think we've reached that point with voice recognition and AI assistants. It's now a matter of time until someone connects the pieces into a functional and accessible product. The reason smartphones are not the devices to get us there is because they're not a good fit for this use case. Pulling out a rectangular slab with a huge screen out of your pocket every time you want to interact with a voice assistant is enough of a UX hurdle that most people won't do it, even if it would be socially acceptable. Even if this was in a watch form factor, which we'll surely see as well, just bringing your arm close to your face would get slightly annoying over time. So a light pebble device you can pin on your shirt or wear as a necklace seems like a good form factor for this. The Limitless Pendant is another recent contender, and seems like a better thought out product compared to the Humane Pin. These devices aim to be unobtrusive, and disappear into the background, yet still remain deeply integrated into our lives. This is what technology is trending towards. I reckon the smartphones of today will seem primitive in a few decades, replaced by seamless VR/AR in glasses and primarily voice-driven wearable tech. We're currently in this transitional period where companies are investing in high-risk products to see what sticks, but eventually someone will launch something that resonates. Just like Apple did for smartphones in 2007.

mulderc 2y ago
Why wouldn't the device just be your ear buds connected to your phone? I already use siri all the time as I usually have my AirPods in and it works great. That seems like a much more likely device to access our digital assistance than some necklace or pin. Better yet, you could just pair it with your smartwatch and not even need the phone. I'm still deeply skeptical on voice driven tech as we have had that available and easy to use from various devices for over a decade now and it hasn't taken off for tons of reasons. I just am not going to have a conversation with my computer with others around.
- hbn 2y ago

vineyardmike 2y ago

So I agree generally, BUT existing phone companies have an incentive to maintain the app-centric world that keeps their app stores profitable, and app companies have an incentive to lock you into their app to keep customer loyalty and be “more than an API”. All that’s to say, the Rabbit idea of manually scripting against apps to allow “business as usual” for all these individual parties who wouldn’t want to collaborate fills a void that existing players don’t have incentives to fill.