Episode 83 - The Humane AI Pin reviews and What's Next for 2024?

Solid State Podcast

This week on the Solid State Podcast, we play a little game of “What if” versus “What’s next”… See, we’re at an interesting time of the year where most of the big announcements are still to come… sure CES has come and gone, some phones have hit the market, and freshly Copilot-emblazoned laptops are among us… but really, the majority of what 2024 does (or doesn’t) have in store for us is still to come…

AI has obviously been at the core of the conversation for some time now, but as we’ve touched on in the past, the reality of it is so much more than a chatbot and some generative AI “artwork”… we’ll soon reach a point where tangible products on physical warehouse and store shelves will usher these emerging technologies onto our desks, into our pockets, and if at least one company has anything to say about it… onto our chests…

You’ve likely heard by now that a new player in the space named “Humane” has launched is AI pin, and if nothing else it’s caused quite a stir… sadly it’s just for all the wrong reasons. Reviews are, to be kind, universally negative and considering its price point, ongoing expense to operate, and seemingly half-baked feature set, one could be forgiven for asking what are we even doing here…

But, as we’ve talked about so many times on this show, the story of so many products and entire categories that we know and enjoy every day started with crash and burn reviews, disastrous “first generation” launches, and sometimes years of iterative updates and tweaks… anyone remember the first generation Galaxy Fold?

Now, we’re also not saying this will necessarily be the story of Humane… they’re still a startup burning a finite pile of investment capital that, some day will need to make a product capable of moving units and generating profits… Maybe it will, maybe this will be one more entry into the long line of false-start launches. But what is all but guaranteed is what they’re working towards, this AI enabled device future, is here to stay…

So with the reviews rolling in, we couldn’t help but ask ourselves what else is still ahead in 2024? One quarter in the answer is, simply, a lot! We touch on just a few here today, but suffice to say, this is going to be a busy one…

Now, the real news of that day, actually, is that it’s my dear wife’s birthday… and shocker to no one I have playlists to craft, food to order, and an event to create out of thin air… if only AI could help me with that?