As a former apple alum I find myself getting into the mistake that Humane's cofounders are also getting into. Just because you've built world class hardware in the past doesn't mean you are guaranteed to repeat it. The product needs to solve genuine user problems.
Excellent article. You could extend this perspective to services as well. Last week I stayed at two hotels that “advertised” services that weren’t true. One said it had laundry service (I was on the road for a week) but when I arrived they said, “oh, only ever other day, and not today” (the day I was there mid trip). The other let me book and pay for a room on the “concierge lounge level” but when I arrived said, “Oh, the lounge isn’t open on Friday, Saturday or Sunday…” not was their laundry service. Both were major chain hotels of their premiere brands (Marriott and Hilton), not their bare-bones brands.
Of course there are “hotel reviews” but they have become largely useless because you have 2/10 right after 9/10 so there’s no authority in either. And the hoteliers know this, and keep on poorly delivering service. Sure, I’ll find different hotels in the future — but those two already got my money.
Something really broke over the last decade; doubly so since the pandemic. And companies are getting away with the most egregious tomfoolery to their customers…. With no end in sight.
Great example. Had a similar experience last time I was in a hotel too, despite it being "well reviewed."
Unlike these new products - the solution is simply wait, research, then don't buy - it could be harder to solve things like services, because the research is hard to tell good from bad, most of the players are supposedly trusted, established brands, and yet you will still come off disappointed. In some cases, there isn't even alternatives. (Even AirBnb comes with it a whole host of different issues).
I’m low-key obsessed with this whole thing. No, not the Humane AI pin – all that bluster and promise of transformation just reeked of vaporware, so I was unsurprised by the terrible reviews. I can’t stop thinking (and talking my poor husband’s ear off) about how people are attacking product reviewers who are simply telling the truth. It’s a bad product, and people trusted to review products are saying so. How is anyone coming out against that?
I can’t help but feel like this is just another example of the current quality of discourse: post-truth, gas-lighty, spinning. We’ve come to expect it with politics and climate science and gender and, and… so I shouldn’t be surprised about this. But, somehow, I still am. 😒
That’s the thing that’s amazed me the most — backlash against someone telling the truth.
It’s important to consider that some of the more prominent responses have come from VCs, founder-types who need/want this kinda product to do well so they can keep them coming, and some are from Humane themselves who are obviously trying to save face.
But anyone else defending them, or hitting out at reviewers, have lost their minds.
I used to be a film critic in the 1980s and 1990s, and I’m sadly used to this. Especially when it came to science fiction, fantasy, and comic adaptations, the hate mail that would arrive not just for negative reviews, but positive reviews with caveats, would just stun you. (I even once had an editor when I was starting out who refused to print my negative reviews without rebuttals, because, and I quote, “I can’t let you going about maligning the films that I love.”) This gibberish is just a continuation: it’s cult behavior that states “anything other than an overwhelmingly ecstatic review is somehow going to ruin the world and prevent anyone from doing another crappy product EVER AGAIN, and we won’t stand for it.” Switch out shitty comics movies for shitty tech products, and you’ll find the same Cat Piss Men with nearly the same exact complaints.
Agree. It is a case study on how not to launch a product. Although I haven't used the product or know the team personally, the only point I'd like to make is that perhaps they went too broad. They might have been better off starting with use cases in niche B2B that solve specific problems for say nurses, police and first responders before opening it up to the wider market?
Great article. It irritates me so much when companies think they can slip these abominations of products through without us noticing that they don’t even work.
I have heard of things like this happening but didn’t realize how rampant in video games this was. I guess, like most things in a competitive market, unless a better product comes to replace it or people complain enough to kill it, this practice will remain
Yeah, off the top of my head, I can think of Anthem, Fallout 76, Redfall, that daft new Gollum game, Forspoken, even things like Starfield and No Man’s Sky launched not as promised. In gaming there is also the awful movie licence stuff which is always bad beyond belief, yet still gets pushed out. (You should watch some videos from the newest King Kong video game, and bare in mind, it cost full price)
I will definitely check out that King Kong game, seeing things that bad actually get sent out is always a good laugh for me. Especially because you know it wasn’t an accident, and had to go through multiple phases of bosses, managers, and game testers all who said “good enough”. Really poor look and unprofessional
I haven't played video games in years, and one of the big reasons I quit was this exact practice of shipping broken products
I used to excuse Bethesda in particular, but they've been one of the worst offenders, shipping games that are too big to be stable, and worlds that are wide but shallow
And they expect modders to fix most of the problems for free!
Your point about pre-orders was also key. Video games and books are so dependent on pre-orders, which today is so insidious. It maybe made sense in a time before online orders, when my local Software Etc would only bring in a few copies of certain games, but those days are gone
As a former apple alum I find myself getting into the mistake that Humane's cofounders are also getting into. Just because you've built world class hardware in the past doesn't mean you are guaranteed to repeat it. The product needs to solve genuine user problems.
Yes, relying on your name, and the hype your name generates, is a losing formula.
Excellent article. You could extend this perspective to services as well. Last week I stayed at two hotels that “advertised” services that weren’t true. One said it had laundry service (I was on the road for a week) but when I arrived they said, “oh, only ever other day, and not today” (the day I was there mid trip). The other let me book and pay for a room on the “concierge lounge level” but when I arrived said, “Oh, the lounge isn’t open on Friday, Saturday or Sunday…” not was their laundry service. Both were major chain hotels of their premiere brands (Marriott and Hilton), not their bare-bones brands.
Of course there are “hotel reviews” but they have become largely useless because you have 2/10 right after 9/10 so there’s no authority in either. And the hoteliers know this, and keep on poorly delivering service. Sure, I’ll find different hotels in the future — but those two already got my money.
Something really broke over the last decade; doubly so since the pandemic. And companies are getting away with the most egregious tomfoolery to their customers…. With no end in sight.
Great example. Had a similar experience last time I was in a hotel too, despite it being "well reviewed."
Unlike these new products - the solution is simply wait, research, then don't buy - it could be harder to solve things like services, because the research is hard to tell good from bad, most of the players are supposedly trusted, established brands, and yet you will still come off disappointed. In some cases, there isn't even alternatives. (Even AirBnb comes with it a whole host of different issues).
A totally broken system.
I’m low-key obsessed with this whole thing. No, not the Humane AI pin – all that bluster and promise of transformation just reeked of vaporware, so I was unsurprised by the terrible reviews. I can’t stop thinking (and talking my poor husband’s ear off) about how people are attacking product reviewers who are simply telling the truth. It’s a bad product, and people trusted to review products are saying so. How is anyone coming out against that?
I can’t help but feel like this is just another example of the current quality of discourse: post-truth, gas-lighty, spinning. We’ve come to expect it with politics and climate science and gender and, and… so I shouldn’t be surprised about this. But, somehow, I still am. 😒
That’s the thing that’s amazed me the most — backlash against someone telling the truth.
It’s important to consider that some of the more prominent responses have come from VCs, founder-types who need/want this kinda product to do well so they can keep them coming, and some are from Humane themselves who are obviously trying to save face.
But anyone else defending them, or hitting out at reviewers, have lost their minds.
I used to be a film critic in the 1980s and 1990s, and I’m sadly used to this. Especially when it came to science fiction, fantasy, and comic adaptations, the hate mail that would arrive not just for negative reviews, but positive reviews with caveats, would just stun you. (I even once had an editor when I was starting out who refused to print my negative reviews without rebuttals, because, and I quote, “I can’t let you going about maligning the films that I love.”) This gibberish is just a continuation: it’s cult behavior that states “anything other than an overwhelmingly ecstatic review is somehow going to ruin the world and prevent anyone from doing another crappy product EVER AGAIN, and we won’t stand for it.” Switch out shitty comics movies for shitty tech products, and you’ll find the same Cat Piss Men with nearly the same exact complaints.
Agree. It is a case study on how not to launch a product. Although I haven't used the product or know the team personally, the only point I'd like to make is that perhaps they went too broad. They might have been better off starting with use cases in niche B2B that solve specific problems for say nurses, police and first responders before opening it up to the wider market?
But more the more specific you go, the less you can hype it up
Yes exactly. My point is more if they focused less on the hype and more on less clamorous but relevant use cases it might have worked.
That… would be smart thinking.
Great article. It irritates me so much when companies think they can slip these abominations of products through without us noticing that they don’t even work.
Yeah. An awful, shitty practice, that will continue to happen as long as the consumer allows it too
Fab title!
Fab title; shitty practice.
I have heard of things like this happening but didn’t realize how rampant in video games this was. I guess, like most things in a competitive market, unless a better product comes to replace it or people complain enough to kill it, this practice will remain
Yeah, off the top of my head, I can think of Anthem, Fallout 76, Redfall, that daft new Gollum game, Forspoken, even things like Starfield and No Man’s Sky launched not as promised. In gaming there is also the awful movie licence stuff which is always bad beyond belief, yet still gets pushed out. (You should watch some videos from the newest King Kong video game, and bare in mind, it cost full price)
I will definitely check out that King Kong game, seeing things that bad actually get sent out is always a good laugh for me. Especially because you know it wasn’t an accident, and had to go through multiple phases of bosses, managers, and game testers all who said “good enough”. Really poor look and unprofessional
Mahalo for the great article
I haven't played video games in years, and one of the big reasons I quit was this exact practice of shipping broken products
I used to excuse Bethesda in particular, but they've been one of the worst offenders, shipping games that are too big to be stable, and worlds that are wide but shallow
And they expect modders to fix most of the problems for free!
Your point about pre-orders was also key. Video games and books are so dependent on pre-orders, which today is so insidious. It maybe made sense in a time before online orders, when my local Software Etc would only bring in a few copies of certain games, but those days are gone
404media wrote and later podcasted about he Pin debacle in April it was hilarious https://www.404media.co/we-must-never-forget-how-dumb-the-humane-ai-pin-is/
Ah, it’s nice to see that the spirit of the CueCat lives on.