§ I would like to see hardware make a comeback this year. The past decade has been full of increasingly homogeneous gadgets with software differentiation. We might be in for a change soon though. Apple’s Vision Pro is here, the Rabbit R1 was the CES standout, OpenAI is said to be in talks with Jony Ive to create hardware for AI, Humane’s Pin may or may not prove successful but it is inarguably ambitious.

One thing to keep in mind when evaluating all of these new gadgets: smartphones have been more or less perfect for the past five years. All of these new devices will be weird and unrefined in comparison. That’s okay though, that’s the exciting part.

§ Speaking of, Vision Pro reviews are out. The verdict? Exciting paradigm held back by the current state of hardware. I am most interested to see the story nine months from now. Will most Vision headsets be pushed to the side, off into drawers full of other forgotten technologies? Will it find a foothold in popular culture as an expensive, coveted status symbol like the original iPhone?

Ok ok, I’m already getting sick of all of the Vision Pro coverage so I’ll leave it there for now. That said, I booked an in-store demo for next Tuesday…

§ Ok, one last adjacent topic: I tried Crouton, the cooking app featured prominently in Joanna Stern’s Vision Pro review. The iOS interface has a hands-free wink navigation mode. Close your right eye to navigate forward though a recipe’s instructions, close your left eye to go back. It is a ridiculous gimmick but also surprisingly practical. Particularly, I imagine, if you are more deft at winking than I am.

§ I passed my 100 day streak of completing Puzzmo crosswords. I’ve fallen out of the habit of doing any of the other Puzzmo games with much regularity but I still have a lot of affinity for the service. There is something quaint and straightforward, almost Web 2.0 about it.

§ I resubscribed to Stratechery after canceling around mid-December. I realized that, although Ben’s views on business and government regulation sometimes annoy me, I was missing the work he does with others—particularly Dithering and his interview series.

§ I read the first few chapters of Michael Lewis’ Going Infinite after reading an interesting (though long) review of the book by Zvi Mowshowitz.

Lewis faced a lot of criticism when the book was published for being too sympathetic towards SBF. None of that criticism feels particularly warranted though. Lewis paints Sam as unempathetic, supercilious, and cold. In fact, Sam comes off as so unlikable that I’m finding it hard to stick with the book. If not for the sheer craziness of the story I probably would have dropped it by now.

§ At work we started brainstorming our next big exhibition, slated for June. We’re leaning towards Life in Space. Think: geodesic domes, inflatable habitats, 3D printed architecture, programmable lighting to simulate a day-night cycle. This is one of my favorite parts of the creative process, where it’s all nebulous vibes and ambitions ideas.

§ The sun shone on Thursday for the first time in more than a month. Welcome back.

§ Links