1. Silicon Valley struggles to envision a post-smartphone future as sales for smartphones continue to rise.
2. Companies like Humane are attempting to create alternatives with wearable technology, such as an AI-enabled pin.
3. Reviews of Humane’s AI Pin reveal major flaws, indicating that smartphones will likely remain essential for the foreseeable future.
Despite the continued growth in smartphone sales and the impact they have on people’s lives, Silicon Valley is struggling to envision a future beyond smartphones as a primary device. Companies have attempted to offer alternatives, such as Google’s failed smart glasses and Meta’s partnership with Ray-Ban. The startup Humane, founded by former Apple managers, developed an AI-enabled wearable pin as a potential solution to screen-time concerns.
However, initial reviews of Humane’s AI pin have been disappointing, with critics pointing out significant flaws in the device’s functionality. The pin, priced at $699 with a monthly subscription fee, lacks basic features such as an alarm and struggles with making calls and music streaming. Users have also reported issues with uploading images to cloud storage and the AI’s performance. Industry experts, like Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, suggest that smartphones will remain dominant in the market for the foreseeable future.
Even Apple, despite introducing new hardware like the Vision Pro, is positioning its products to work in conjunction with iPhones. This indicates that smartphones are likely to continue being the main computing device for consumers. The idea of a post-smartphone future appears challenging given the current limitations of existing alternatives.