This morning I woke up to a bunch of messages about the overnight launch of the first product from Human called Al PIN.
I wrote a bit about this back in May, basically saying that I liked their line in the sand, "the future of computing is not on your face." Great, I respect that a lot, so the next question is, what do you think the future of computing is?
We now have our answer.
There is a 10 min video demo that did the rounds on Twitter this morning. The co-founders present the AIPIN and explain the core features.
My feeling is...it's fine, but is asking a lot.
That and the video is a good lesson in product-marketing-language. The introduced a lot of new terms for the various features, Trust Light, Sound Bubble or something similar, and the colours were all named after star systems or moon phases, I'm not sure but I chuckled and couldn't help thinking "it's black".
I'm deliberately not checking the video again here because I'm trying to test my own recall about what was presented to us. I will say that I liked the lo-fi way it was produced. One room, not much flashy animation. It felt like something made by a small team who are putting their heads up mid-journey to show us what they've made. I like that.
I really respect the team for what they have built here. The battery and charging seems well executed, well it all does actually. But the things I loved back in May are the things I now question. They are much more fundamental things.
I joined a Twitter Space this morning to talk with a bunch of people about this. And my main comment/suggestion was that if the Human idea is that we don't needs screens (and to some degree I do thin that is a good idea) then why does this thing have to be worn on my clothing?
I'm trying to thin through all the reasons it needs to be visible and worn. Not having to reach into my pocket for a device is arguably an improvement on a phone (how much?) but, what percentage of the time it's on my shirt or jacket am I actually using the device?
I mean, it's not like it's going to be recording while I'm walking around. So why can't the device just live in my pocket and I pull it out when Iwant to film something, project something, ask it something etc.
I guess you actually could use it like that lol. And maybe then I don't even need the camera functionality.
I just think that the decision to make this a wearable thing on your chest introduces so many cultural/fashion/security questions that simply don't exist if this thing is designed to live in your pocket.
But if it's in your pocket...why not just have a phone, Nick?
Good question. The answer might be that this device is for people who actively want to be less connected. The same people who bought the Light Phone. Or people who want to connect in a more intentional way and not be sucked into the flashing lights of their iPhone.
Both the Light Phone and the AI PIN seem to have very similar pitches to me. The future of mobile computing is less technology that does more. One kept the gui form factor, the other went for a laser projector. But I think both believe similar things.
There. isa lot more to say here about price, expecting people to switch have a new number and mobile plan (where do mu contacts come from), how does their portal work, etc. and all require deeper dives.
I love that this exists because it feels like a big step towards something we should want more of (which is less), but there feels like lots of open questions about whether people will use this, and many of the important ones aren't technical.
