Limitless Is More
Dan Siroker
While clearly some of Humane's issues are poor execution and planning, some of it is just bad timing: the AI Pin started before the current AI boom cycle, but launched into the heart of it. That may sound like good timing, but actually they clearly made a lot of their product decisions before knowing what was coming. I honestly think a simple pin that just invoked ChatGPT verbally would be a fun, interesting product. Provided it wasn't $699. Which it wouldn't be without a camera and special laser beams. Anyway, if Humane has bad timing, Limitless seemingly has excellent timing.
Not only are they launching a $99 AI pendant, they're doing it just a few days after basically the whole world of tech reviewers has crapped on the AI Pin. This may seem like bad timing, but I think because they're launching something closer to the simple version of AI hardware that I outlined above, they're positioned well to take advantage of the Humane backlash. Hell, I ordered one.
And actually, Limitless, which also existed before the current AI boom cycle as a startup called Rewind, is almost the opposite of my theoretical ChatGPT pin. It simply is meant to listen to what you're doing – namely, meetings – and record those to enter into your Limitless database. Basically a catch-all for everything you're doing meeting-wise. Yes, you could just record such meetings on your phone, but I think a single-purpose device could actually makes sense for this, provided it works well. And again, the price is right.
And, importantly, the pendant looks great. It looks like a goddamn delicious macaron. Humane's AI Pin didn't look bad, just too bulky. The Limitless Pendant looks small and seamless. And thanks to the color choices, a little fun. Good choices all around.
Of course, the proof will be in the actual usage. And we'll see. But this positioning is much, much better than the AI Pin already. Sometimes, timing is everything.