My take on the Rabbit R1.

So, here's a take on some new tech that I doubt you'll see anywhere else. At CES this year, a new company introduced a product called the Rabbit R1. If you haven't heard about it you might try Googling it and you can learn more but basically it's a very inexpensive mobile device that allows you to interact with Chat GPT and translate your interactions into actual events for you. Think of it as a super smart assistant that can call Uber, process tasks, set schedules, review documents and all other sorts of tasks. And, the main interface is voice.

I'm having a fun time watching all the hot takes on YouTube regarding the rabbit R1. It's fun watching those who have seen to have little understanding of the history of computer technology poopoo on it and comment on the fact that the R1 should be a smartphone app and not a device.

The R1 is certainly a V1 (version 1) product that is the first shot across the bow in predicting how we will interface with technology in the future. Much like the Apple Newton* was an unsuccessful V1 product that pointed to the eventual smartphone, I believe the R1 demonstrates the potential for AI and how it will change our world similarly to the way smartphones have significantly changed our culture.

For me the interesting part is to see all of the tech pundits react to it as if it's a 100% finished product and compare it directly to the most advanced smartphone products. Their naive thoughts of turning it into yet another app goes against the very concept of what the R1 claims to be. And their misguided thoughts that Google Assistant or Siri will do the same are laughable as they've been trying to do that for years and have not yet been able to.

Of course Google already has the AI wizardry to pull this off but it won't happen for a number of reasons. Paramount among them is the inability for Google to master a user interface to make something like this work seamlessly within the complex operation of a smartphone.

Many of you may remember when Steve Jobs introduced the first Apple iPhone. And most of the major players indicated it would fail because everyone knew that the formula for a good phone included easy to use tactile buttons, very much like BlackBerry had. The V1 instance of the Apple iPhone ended up becoming the first in a long line of the most successful technology products in human history.

Fast forward a few years later and very soon after Microsoft cancelled all of their tablet initiatives because of no demand, Steve Jobs again shocked the pundits by introducing the iPad which was nothing more than a larger version of the iPhone without the telephone. Everyone said it was way too limiting. Still, it, like the iPhone, became the industry standard.

Jobs understood that you had to back up to go forward. He understood that you couldn't use existing formulas to create insanely cool products that would change the world. Certainly, not all of his products were successful, the Lisa is one that comes to mind. But even Lisa created a new commercial paradigm which exists to this day: the windows interface. (Yeah, I know PARC had something to do with all that but it was never realized in any sort of commercial way by Xerox.)

So, i look at this Rabbit R1 device and I think by focusing on a super simple interface and AI, and removing everything else, it may have the potential to change a lot in how we interface with technology in the future.

I bought one. They're only $199 and there is no subscription plan. I'm interested in learning more about it and seeing what I can actually accomplish with it.

*I also bought the Newton when it came out. I believe I used it for a few months and then it went up on a shelf. Still, it was a very interesting experience and taught me a lot about the evolution of technology. In particular, the handwriting recognition was most interesting, and and I learned that 98% correctness in handwriting recognition just wasn't good enough. It needed to be 100%. Later on, the Palm Pilot created its own handwriting alphabet gestures to achieve 100%.

So, one of the concerns I would have about the R1 is how accurate the tasked results are. If you ask it to call Uber and it only shows up 9 out of 10 times, then of course it's a failure. The smartphone app works 10 out of 10 times, which leads me to the challenge of how does an AI communicate with you when it fails? I suppose that's a whole other discussion!