Rabbit has the appearance of being the hardware startup that AI-centric folks have been waiting for. Unlike Humane’s $200 million multi-year tease that culminated in one of the oddest consumer gadget unveilings in recent memory for its Ai Pin, Rabbit unveiled its $199 r1 to little fanfare with a taped keynote posted to X. With its $30 million of funding, Rabbit won’t be able to escape the same fundamental AI hardware issues…

Predictions don’t excite me. They are often lackluster attempts at providing answers to the unknown. To then get the timing behind such predictions correct makes the whole thing a charade with little to no added value. Instead, for the first Inside Orchard essay of 2024, we will embrace the unknown and look at tech questions that are on my mind for 2024.

Generative AI. Since companies have already spent a significant amount…

As we wrap up another year, we look back at what comes across as an eventful 2023. Macro issues and lingering COVID talk led to a shaky start. We then saw a fair share of winners (“Barbie” / NVIDIA / OpenAI) and losers (Disney / consumer gadget sales / EVs). While most people would position “AI” as the tech story of the year, there’s something about that decision that doesn’t sit right…

More than a year into Elon Musk’s Twitter ownership, it’s safe to say it’s been an eventful journey. Last month, Musk generated another wave of controversy at an NYT conference by publicly going after former Twitter / X advertisers for pulling away from the platform. The saga brought a renewed look at what X is becoming. Enough time has passed with Musk at the helm that we are able to point out…

Every few months, Spotify seems to go through a PR fiasco that leads to people saying the company has a toxic culture. The Joe Rogan saga created a wave of pushback that Spotify was incorrectly putting its thumb on the moderation scale. Due to periodic battles over payments to artists, Spotify has a reputation of being hostile to artists. Earlier this week, Spotify took on heat for announcing a substantial round of…

Earlier this month, the tech news cycle was overtaken by the attempted board coup at OpenAI. The drama played out on X seemingly minute by minute. After a few days, it became clear the board’s effort ultimately would fall short. At a certain level, many people loved the twists and turns, as if we have been starved of such drama in tech. I guess the Elon Musk drama became a bit tired…

One of the defining post-pandemic shifts in tech has been unfolding in the social media space. Seemingly overnight, tech giants including Meta and Google found themselves on the ropes, fighting a new kind of competitor: TikTok and algorithm-fueled video timelines. From my vantage point of analyzing quarterly earnings, we are already seeing the next phase of TikTok’s influence seeping through the industry, and the observations make me increasingly worried about where things…

After what seemed like a never-ending stream of teases and leaks, Humane finally revealed its hyped product: Ai Pin. It’s a wearable camera worn on clothing that is meant to move people beyond smartphones. While the company has received some accolades for simply getting to the point of announcing a new product – something that strikes me as being an awfully low bar to get over – there has been no shortage…

Airbnb started out as a relatively simple premise: make some extra money by offering travelers a bed, a place to work, and breakfast. Instead of going through the complicated process of opening and running an actual bed and breakfast, a homeowner could “share” their space with others. Jump ahead 15 years and Airbnb is a platform with more than $60 billion of booking volume per year.

The idea behind Airbnb isn’t revolutionary…

News of GM dialing back its EV sales targets wasn’t met with much surprise. Elon Musk’s downbeat Tesla earnings call a week prior had already lowered EV demand expectations. However, the question remains: Is EV demand declining simply because of higher interest rates resulting in higher financing costs? It’s prudent not to box ourselves into such a narrow explanation. Instead, there is a bigger problem at play. EVs are waiting for, and…

We still have two months to go in 2023. A lot can and will likely happen. However, we are already able to point to a few broad tech themes that have come to define the year.

It’s been a very busy two months for consumer gadget enthusiasts. With Samsung kicking off the fall product cycle earlier than usual in July to Google’s product event in NYC last week, we now have a good view of how tech companies are positioned heading into the holiday season. As the gadget recession rages on while AI mania remains palpable, the way companies are thinking about hardware is splintering leading to more…

Earlier this week, Google held its annual fall event for new products. Along with new hardware, Google unveiled various AI-powered editing features for photos taken on Pixel 8 smartphones. The features make me nervous about where we are headed from the perspective of AI.

Among the announcements, the following three new features stood out to me:

For the better part of the past decade, there has been talk of the U.S. government coming down hard on Big Tech. Upset and frightened by how a handful of companies have grabbed so much power, lawmakers and regulators have tried to sound tough about doing the hard work to protect the public. At least based on the early battles to date, the bark has been worse than the bite. Earlier this…

Last week, we looked at how U.S. states proposing bans on gas-powered cars is not a development that EV proponents should be applauding or supporting. Instead, EVs need to stand on their own in terms of appealing to consumers and winning over switchers (from gas). Staying in the auto space for one more week, we turn to the developing UAW (United Auto Workers) strike. The UAW is a union covering 400,000…

Earlier this week, I was in California to attend the Apple event. In what has now become a routine observation for me, the 15 to 20 Tesla vehicles seen in one city block in Silicon Valley (the Cupertino/Saratoga area to be specific) caught my attention. It’s still a sight to behold for me because in most parts of Connecticut it’s rare to see more than 10 Tesla vehicles on the road in…

Instead of the Bob Chapek to Bob Iger transition being a smooth one for Disney, a spotlight has been put on the many troubles and problems that ushered in the change. Yesterday, CNBC published a 12,000-word exposé into Disney’s CEO transition. One needed a cold shower after reading the story. While we can debate some parts of the story and question the motives of unnamed sources, it’s impossible to deny that Disney…

Last week, Instacart filed its Form S-1 for going public. Since IPOs are dependent more on narratives and timing than financials, the company and its bankers appear to have great timing. The brand has made significant inroads with the general public in the past few years and yet has plenty of growth potential for getting in front of new customers. Diving into the Form S-1, the narrative is in full effect as…

In what has become something of a quarterly tradition, people are once again sounding the alarm about video streamers raising subscription prices. Disney was the latest company to announce higher prices with Disney+ (with no ads) seeing a 27% price increase and Hulu (with no ads) seeing a 20% increase. Despite drawing anger and frustration, continued price increases end up being one of the better developments for an industry that has been…

After downplaying prospects of facilitating sports gambling in the late 2010s, Disney’s Bob Iger has had a change of heart. Earlier this week, ESPN announced a partnership with Penn Entertainment that boils down to ESPN getting paid to have its brand be used to promote sports gambling. The deal is wrapped in the reality of what live sports has become.

Set within the video streaming landscape, sports continues to be the most…