Linked List: February 29, 2024

Thursday, 29 February 2024

Larry David Promoting Siri 

Speaking of Larry David, remember the never-shown (and now, alas, deleted from the public internet because of copyright takedowns from Apple (archive)) 10-minute video that was supposed to open WWDC 2014, featuring Larry David as an App Store reviewer? When it leaked, briefly — but long enough for me to snatch a copy — in 2021, I wrote:

The whole video is funny in exactly the way Curb is funny, but Curb Your Enthusiasm -style humor is not Apple-style humor — and the difference has only widened since 2014. I don’t know how this project got so far, but the humor is such that I don’t see how Apple could possibly have used it, even in 2014. One joke that might have played as funny in 2014 but wouldn’t in 2021 is the central conceit of the video — that Apple’s head of app review is a capricious jerk who makes approval decisions based on inscrutable whims.

It really was hilarious, but also seemed to prove that Larry David’s humor isn’t compatible with Apple’s brand.

But, here we are in 2024, and Larry David has created a minute-long commercial for Siri, embedded right in an actual episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I wouldn’t think David would go for shameless product promotion like this,* but in this clip he patiently and thoroughly shows exactly how effective, accurate, and effortless Siri is to use in day-to-day life.

I’m surprised Apple hasn’t yet put this clip on their official YouTube channel.

* Then again, I wouldn’t have thought he’d do commercials for cryptocurrency scams either.

Humane, Nearing Launch of Ai Pin, Is Gathering Steam 

Humane, yesterday:

This partnership, as part of a strategic investment opportunity, will see SoftBank become the exclusive telecom provider for Ai Pin in Japan, leveraging SoftBank’s top-class services and compelling customer touchpoints to bring Ai Pin to a new market. SoftBank and Humane will also explore bringing CosmOS to other mobile devices and be working together on an app-less ecosystem of third-party services and AI-driven user experiences in Japan.

And in a separate announcement the day before:

Humane Inc and South Korea’s biggest mobile telecommunication company SK Telecom (SKT) today announced a Telco partnership for the Humane Ai Pin, the world’s first stand-alone Ai device and proprietary Ai-driven OS, CosmOS.

This partnership, as part of a strategic investment opportunity, will see SKT become the exclusive telecom provider for Ai Pin in South Korea, combining Humane’s groundbreaking AI technology with SKT’s expertise in advanced mobile networks, IoT, Cloud, AI, and 5G technologies. Alongside Ai Pin, both companies will explore licensing Humane’s CosmOS, creating an entirely new operating model between carriers and OEMs.

NeXT shipped their first workstations in 1989, but got out of the hardware business in 1993 and tried to make a go of just licensing their OS. Humane might be starting that same pivot two months before their first device ships.

Humane seemingly had a great Mobile World Congress (MWC) this week, winning awards, garnering crowds, and attracting media attention. Here’s a series of short videos from Humane’s Sam Sheffer showing off the entire kit of hardware.

I remain deeply skeptical of the form factor, but just like the Rabbit R1 — at this point, Humane’s only rival — I can’t wait to try it. Whether the form factor is the right idea or not, the Humane AI assistant sure as shit blows Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant out of the water.