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Im neutral on this, but if you watch the TED talk, and research more of the "why" behind it, I really appreciate what they are trying to do.

Keep the tech but in a way that we don't get the addictive qualities of a phone (eliminate the screens).
 
It is interesting technology but a bad product. But who knows, maybe it will evolve in something actually useful one day.

On a separate note, I assume this is on MacRumors because former Apple person is involved? Should we expect stories like "Retired Apple engineer opens burger joint, using iPads to take orders" in the near future?
 
Someone finally creates an actual TNG communicator badge and you're all complaining about it? Ingrates!

But can I set the AI response voice to be Majel Barrett's? If no, then it's definitely a hard pass.
 
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this looks so bad and I feel so sorry for anyone who invested in this company and anyone who placed a preorder. lol

that projector on hand feature is a classic example of gimmick ideas.

what happens if they get on a crowded train and someone just snatches it

why would I want someone to listen to my phone calls

if I'm underground and there's no internet, how will this product be useful to me in getting directions or doing practically anything else other than taking video or listening to music.

I don't think they thought this product through.
Dude you clearly have not been on London on most of our trains, the kids have no idea that a phone normally gets ut to your ear (they did not grow up with house phones attached to a wire) They all speak upon handsfree. In fact weirdly I see some of the older generation, speak on handsfree, then lift the phone to their ear to hear it better, then back to the front of face talk.
 
I see most people saying "Hard No" "Hard Pass" etc. At least this is an attempt to do something a bit different, a bit exciting. I give them that. Shouldn't new tech seem like Sci-fi instead of boring incremental updates? This sure seems like sci-fi to me. I think the Apple Vision Pro is as big an unknown as this in terms of what the next generation of personal tech is gonna be. There is still no evidence that VR headsets are going to be the future.

It’s a smartwatch without a screen that lacks most other features too - that’s in a pretty unsecure location. It’s a step back, not forwards.

Something new would have have been an AI life and work monitor that informs you how to do everything better.
 
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I see most people saying "Hard No" "Hard Pass" etc. At least this is an attempt to do something a bit different, a bit exciting. I give them that. Shouldn't new tech seem like Sci-fi instead of boring incremental updates? This sure seems like sci-fi to me. I think the Apple Vision Pro is as big an unknown as this in terms of what the next generation of personal tech is gonna be. There is still no evidence that VR headsets are going to be the future.
It’s not a VR headset 😂
 
those investor's money better invested in BTC last year than this crap product. 😂
 
What’s crazy is that I was allll in on this from a fun futurist perspective and, for half a year now, have been ready to buy one. But now that the price is released? And needing a whole other plan (can’t even use my current T-Mobile or their ‘Digits’ plan which is perfect for this)? I’m out. Fully. Like, imagine that, I am their target consumer in every which way but laugh at an $800+ device. Yikes.
 
It sounds promising, but I'm too privacy focused to trust so much data on a server somewhere. I do like they've tried to add privacy features though.

The hardware will need some revisions in future models though. It looks like you're wearing an Apple Watch on your shirt. A bit weird.
 
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It looks like an alternative to a smartglasses* and smartwatch combo, or an earbuds and smartwatch combo.

The only advantage I see to the first combo is that you don't have to have something on your face. In just about every other way, it's worse.

The advantage over the second combo is that you don't have anything in your ears, and you have a camera.

So maybe it could work for some people if they don't mind something with less advanced functionality, but prefer the packaging.


*smartglasses — glasses without a display, but with speakers and a camera.
 
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$700 is high and along with the monthly subscription of $24, don't think that the sales will be high.
 
I am not sure.
Many threw down the original iPhone upon its announcement and look at it now.
Same with the iPad.
Perhaps this device will find a niche that fills a need/want in some.
 
I appreciate trying to do something different, something out of the ordinary. Kudos for that. And like others have stated previously, I do feel a lot of people don't want to be tied to a phone. I'm certainly one of them. For example (a little off topic I know), I can only speak for me, but I would give anything to have a pair of wireless earbuds that have internal storage (ideally no cable between them). Stuff needing a phone, stuff needing a watch. When I train at the gym, I don't want anything like that on me. For me, and again I can only speak for me, the Bragi Dash Pro for what they could do functionality wise (2016/2017 I think they came out) far outweigh anything the Airpods Pro can do. Yes, I agree, the bluetooth on them wasn't great at all, but I didn't need or want anything like that at the gym. Left my phone at home, went for a run, went to the gym, a walk.. off I went, music playing. Wasn't tied to my phone anymore :)
 
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The Venn Diagram of Google Glass owners and buyers of this thing is likely just a circle.
I came here to say much the same thing.

This is every bit as creepy & weird as Google Glass.

All it needs is a mode to change your head shape as you take the elevator down to the first floor of Lumon Industries.
 
Here's to the crazy ones. The designers. The ex-Apple employees. The tech startup founders. The square pins on your T-shirt. The ones who use things differently. They're not fond of use-cases. And they have no respect for existing devices. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or laugh your ass off at them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they keep creating products. They appear on your news feed. And while some of the things they do might confuse us, we have to give it to them. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can come up with a new product, are the ones who do.
 
Im neutral on this, but if you watch the TED talk, and research more of the "why" behind it, I really appreciate what they are trying to do.

Keep the tech but in a way that we don't get the addictive qualities of a phone (eliminate the screens).
I appreciate their why too, but if they think this device is some sort of answer to tech addiction, then I think they're misguided. I don’t think any device is the answer, nor the problem. A device is almost completely irrelevant, because information is addictive, not the device that delivers it. Devices are merely inanimate tools. Whether it’s a hammer or a library card or a smartphone or an AR headset or an AI pin—all tools do is offer access to certain sets of desirable functions or information. What people do with that access is completely up to them. There is some responsibility on the part of content creators/aggregators (eg. many social media platforms) who purposely prey on many people’s addictive nature, but ultimately responsibility always falls on the individual. The individual is always free to stop scrolling when they want. The exception being children, who need to be taught responsibility and wisdom by their parents. But again, a device is a neutral tool.

And this AI Pin won’t help with addiction for the masses because if people want access to information and function, they will choose the tool that can most easily deliver it to them. And I think most people want as much access as they can get. Until the AI Pin can somehow match the access of a smartphone, the only buyers I see for a device like this are:
1) people who want their device to artificially limit their access because they don’t trust themselves with more access.
2) people who don’t want all the access of a smartphone and prefer to have more “invisible” tech. (This is a similar category as people who want a small phone because large screens don’t offer them enough value for the inconvenience they also bring, but in this case small phones offer 99% of the access that large phones offer)
3) people who want some other unique features that this device offers, such as hands free camera, and are willing to sacrifice their smartphone.
4) people who want this device in addition to their smartphone.

All of these are of course completely legitimate markets, but I argue even combined they are niche.

It’s absolutely great to have options like this, but the answer to people being too plugged in will always simply have to be people deciding for themselves that they want to be less plugged in. Once they do, devices are just tools to help them accomplish what they want.

And as I alluded to in this and my other post, I do hope this device succeeds. An audio OS and this form factor offers certain functional advantages, and could potentially be a good option to a smartphone. I just think the technology needs to improve vastly before it will succeed on a large scale.
 
It's an interesting product, and I can actually see use cases from a practical standpoint when taking out a phone and holding it may be either impractical or not the "done thing" in a given situation.
Of course you'd also have your smartphone for other tasks.

All I can say is that is this product was from Apple, and Apple followed it up with all the normal Apple integration, a bit like a add-one for an iPhone then I could actually see it as succeeding to allow people to leave their iPhone in their pocket/bag and still be able to do certain things.

However, as a new company, sadly I don't see this lasting.
It's a shame, as it COULD be a useful product.
 
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