this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2024
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Hardware

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[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Why the fuck would anyone pay $1000 for a robot to pass butter? What problem is this trying to answer?

[–] Alphane_Moon@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

Apple's stock performance.

[–] Ptsf@lemmy.world -1 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Combine it with a speaker, have it play video and show recipes while you cook, and bam you'll sell a ton.

[–] golli@lemm.ee 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

You actually have a good point there. In another comment here I was wondering where you'd actually need the automatic movement, since you are usually either close enough to move it yourself or far enough away to not be able to read or interact with the UI.

But situations like in the kitchen or maybe a work shop, where you don't want to touch the screen are where it would come in useful.

However would those be the places you'd want to put a $1000 Apple product?

[–] Ptsf@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Depends on how they market it I suppose

[–] golli@lemm.ee 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I can't really see Apple market the usage in kitchens. The reality is way to messy and i'd imagine that you would see dirty or even damaged units in no time. I don't think that would go well with Apple's clean design and brand image.

[–] Ptsf@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

I think you have to imagine it differently. If it's self tracking and ai based with voice as the main input then it makes for a natural fit imo. Think of it like carplay. Apple wouldn't advertise texting and driving, but they'd advertise. Carplay and siri use in the car all day/night.

[–] fishpen0@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

You just described an iPad on a stand

[–] Ptsf@lemmy.world -2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

On a self tracking stand with hands free features. Or is carplay and siri "just a phone" to you, jerkoff?

[–] fishpen0@lemmy.world 0 points 3 weeks ago

I’m not really sure why name calling was necessary here.

Consider the customer audience here when looking at this product. CarPlay makes sense since it binds things like existing steering wheel controls and a bigger screen to the existing phone interface. It’s also free with an existing device.

Meanwhile an iPad can cost less than $300. Do you really get an additional $700 of value by adding a robotic arm to a stand? Especially when you consider whatever Siri features they add to this would either also exist for the iPad or be arbitrarily not added to it just to hock this robot arm that holds a screen?

[–] golli@lemm.ee 6 points 3 weeks ago

The robotic arm part seems a bit gimmicky, not sure how much value that will actually add for the average user. I'd imagine that when you are using voice commands and are far away you don't really need it to turn towards you. At a distance you can't interact with the ui anyways and depending on how far away it is might not even be able to read anything on screen. And if you are close a normal adjustable arm would do the job just fine.

However I do think there is a market for a well integrated home command center and Apple with their walled garden approach is in a good position to deliver on this.

But it yet again seems like a dedicated device that is expensive might feature good hardware, but is limited to it's specific use case. Like the iPads that have the same chips as laptops, but Apple purposely doesn't give them MacOS to not cannibalize their sales of laptops.

The way control centers should imo be setup is to have the "brain" somewhere hidden like next to the router and then you have cheap screens around the house where you need them. Although Apple might love it, if people buy a $1k+ device for each room. Or instead of a dedicated computer for control one could just put their phone into a hub and have it serve as controller.

[–] Tramort@programming.dev 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Who wants this device?

(Seriously: does anyone here get excited by this?)

[–] hoch@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

As someone with a lot of smart devices in their home, I'd love a large screen to control them, but my hate for Meta and Apple is too much

[–] fishpen0@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

There are actually a lot of devices that work this way and several of them can even be installed in the wall where a two or three gang switch box would be. Most run some flavor of android or an embedded os and cost ~$200-300. So like $700 cheaper than what Apple wants to do for something that takes up counter space.

Brilliant and Tuya both make them as well among better brands.

I have the Brilliant one plumbed into my HomeKit via a zigbee bridge and it’s perfect

[–] golli@lemm.ee 1 points 3 weeks ago

But wouldn't you want to have screens in multiple rooms? Because $1000 seems too expensive for that use case

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

What's it going to do? Release the hounds? Or release the killer bees? Or release the hounds that when they bark they shoot bees out of their mouths?

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

This sounds really stupid. I hope that either the rumors are untrue, or have completely misunderstood what this device is.

[–] mvirts@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

Resurrecting the G4??? With lasers and motors? I'm excited for the wave of cheap ewaste when it flops.