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Jony Ive's OpenAI Device Won't Be Wearable, Court Filings Reveal
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Firing Jonny Ive was one of Apple's best decisions. The guy ruined an entire generation of MacBook Pros and churned out iPhones that barely lasted half a day, all to shave off 1 mm in thickness.
He made a few cool things in the early 2000s, but I find his designs to be lazy and really dull. It's clear that he's being used as hype tool for Open AI to make people think they're developing the next iPod/iPhone. The problem is that Apple has dominated because they've got the best supply chain and manufacturing relationships....not because they had an overrated designer. The design part is easy, and Ive wasn't even good at it....which is why he was let go.
He made a few cool things in the early 2000s, but I find his designs to be lazy and really dull. It's clear that he's being used as hype tool for Open AI to make people think they're developing the next iPod/iPhone. The problem is that Apple has dominated because they've got the best supply chain and manufacturing relationships....not because they had an overrated designer. The design part is easy, and Ive wasn't even good at it....which is why he was let go.
I think he’s been desperately trying to 1) conceive the “next iPhone” and 2) become a billionaire in the process. It looks like he just achieved the second part.
Naa, already tried and failed. Too heavy and it will just drag your shirt and collar down.
I honestly picture a device like the in the Black Mirror Episode, "Hang The DJ"
Of course the device won't have a screen like in that episode, and it won't be focused around dating. Haha. But I am picturing something small like that. And I picture it being able to just talk to it and it just know when you are talking to it and be responsive and just automatically know where you are at and whats around you. Like I said, I picture as a device like the one thats in, "Hang the DJ"
I guess we will see, but it sounds a lot like that.
Of course the device won't have a screen like in that episode, and it won't be focused around dating. Haha. But I am picturing something small like that. And I picture it being able to just talk to it and it just know when you are talking to it and be responsive and just automatically know where you are at and whats around you. Like I said, I picture as a device like the one thats in, "Hang the DJ"
I guess we will see, but it sounds a lot like that.
I heard a rumor that the device is as thin as a needle. You have to insert it under your nail bed. It’ll hurt like hell, but after a couple of days, the pain subsides. If you want to charge it, you just stick your finger in a power socket.
Thinness was worth it. Without Apple constantly making them thinner, we’d still walking around with the (relatively speaking) bricks of early smart phones.
I don’t fault Apple for making this choice and especially at scale: it has made the whole category better; a category that includes billions of users.
A person can mitigate thinness (usually expressed as “lol battery life”) if it doesn’t suit them. But they cannot mitigate weight.
To make the iPhone work, Apple designed new SoC that could be small and light and low-power. They overcame battery life issues by not making fatter batteries but making better hand-computing devices. You were never gonna get that out of Samsung, et al, if they didn’t have to work desperately to try and keep up.
Of course, without Ive, Apple phones have been getting positively obese (sarcasm) which is why I’m intrigued by the iPhone Air even if it’s probably not going to be my next iPhone. But by iPhone 19, iPhone Air 17 will be the standard so we’ll end up owning an “Air” eventually.
Sorry to bang on so long, but if Apple rests for a moment in making hand-sized (and smaller) computers smaller/lighter, AND faster/low-power, then they lose.
Also, why io will fail with whatever they build: they think that design is what wins, but it’s execution at volume that matters as much if not more. Even if they do, by some miracle, design a device that does something a phone can’t do, they still have to iterate the engineering and manufacturing. To “need” to hit it out of the park on the first generation to succeed is to almost assuredly fail. Apple was fortunate to have Steve Jobs who could sell elephant shjt to zookeepers so that the original iPhone could live on a combination of astonishing design and social aura—they *then* went on to make it better and build the capacity to ride the wave by growing their manufacturing into a colossus.
No. He cares, there's no two ways about it. But your comment reminds me of something Michael Caine once said;
It's better to be rich and unhappy than poor and unhappy.
I can’t wait to buy a screenless device to put in my pocket and have it listen to everything I do, then at bedtime it can offer me an inaccurate summary of what I did all day.
A few thoughts:
Re the lawsuit, the interesting thing is that the io cofounder says the first device will not be a wearable. Which to me implies that they may introduce a wearable in the future. This means to me the lawsuit still has relevance in that area. Bottom line is that io is going to produce personal AI driven devices that can be at least somewhat like IYO. They may be forced to change their name.
Re the device. They keep ruling everything out. No screen. No wearable. Not a smartphone or computer. At some point you wonder. Are they splitting hairs with their description of it not being a wearable? Perhaps a puck but not necessarily designed to be worn. Maybe it's a small little robot you interact with?
Then there are the practical realities. What about battery life? Scaling of production? There are a lot of problems to be solved.
Re the lawsuit, the interesting thing is that the io cofounder says the first device will not be a wearable. Which to me implies that they may introduce a wearable in the future. This means to me the lawsuit still has relevance in that area. Bottom line is that io is going to produce personal AI driven devices that can be at least somewhat like IYO. They may be forced to change their name.
Re the device. They keep ruling everything out. No screen. No wearable. Not a smartphone or computer. At some point you wonder. Are they splitting hairs with their description of it not being a wearable? Perhaps a puck but not necessarily designed to be worn. Maybe it's a small little robot you interact with?
Then there are the practical realities. What about battery life? Scaling of production? There are a lot of problems to be solved.
That would be cool. Maybe it is some sort of robot that you place on the table and it just kind of reacts to you. Kind of like the Pixar desktop lamp where you ask it stuff and it kind of acknowledges you and seems to be giving you emotions.
For everyone who has read the Culture series books there is only one answer... I'm just hoping they launch with an aura field too so we can understand their mood.
Let's use some logic to figure out what this device does... First, list out what we know
1) OpenAI is a partner
2) It is not intended to be wearable
3) There is no screen
4) It is not an "audio computer."
5) it somehow tracks what you do
Given that the above statements are all true, what else must be true
1) It doesn't replace a phone or headphones
2) It uses the phone as its user interface. You need to run a phone app or possibly the device has a web interface. In other words you interact with it using your existing device
3) If the computations it did were relatively lightweight, they could be done inside the phone as an app. But it seems they thought they needed this screenless mini-brick. It does something an iPhone app can't do.
What I think:
The device is an AI compute engine. It runs a very powerful AI inside the brick, likey this local AI connects to a larger server but you need a local component to reduce the lag associated with going to a server.
What does the AI in the brick do?
It acts like a person who follows you around. it knows what places you go to, and who you interact with, it quietly reads your emails and texts, and can answer phone calls. Like a good secretary, it can decide which of these you need to handle right now and which can be put off or ignored.
It can interact with other small devices like a lighting control or an Apple TV, or a Ring doorbell camera. So can ask if the package is on the front porch.
Call it a personal assistant that is much more powerful than what can run on a phone.
I imagine they could place all of this inside a phone app and maybe even offer it either free or at low cost. But to get much improved service, you have to buy the little brick, which is like 10X faster and does even more.
1) OpenAI is a partner
2) It is not intended to be wearable
3) There is no screen
4) It is not an "audio computer."
5) it somehow tracks what you do
Given that the above statements are all true, what else must be true
1) It doesn't replace a phone or headphones
2) It uses the phone as its user interface. You need to run a phone app or possibly the device has a web interface. In other words you interact with it using your existing device
3) If the computations it did were relatively lightweight, they could be done inside the phone as an app. But it seems they thought they needed this screenless mini-brick. It does something an iPhone app can't do.
What I think:
The device is an AI compute engine. It runs a very powerful AI inside the brick, likey this local AI connects to a larger server but you need a local component to reduce the lag associated with going to a server.
What does the AI in the brick do?
It acts like a person who follows you around. it knows what places you go to, and who you interact with, it quietly reads your emails and texts, and can answer phone calls. Like a good secretary, it can decide which of these you need to handle right now and which can be put off or ignored.
It can interact with other small devices like a lighting control or an Apple TV, or a Ring doorbell camera. So can ask if the package is on the front porch.
Call it a personal assistant that is much more powerful than what can run on a phone.
I imagine they could place all of this inside a phone app and maybe even offer it either free or at low cost. But to get much improved service, you have to buy the little brick, which is like 10X faster and does even more.
