[ko_pivot]

No question that Ive is a legend, but I do think the fall of Humane (also ex-Apple) and the challenges at Meta, Apple, and Google in terms of VR/AR adoption (Meta Ray Ban, Apple Vision, Google Glasses and the new thing) are instructive here. The $6.5B almost feels like the largest ever aquihire.

[amelius]

> No question that Ive is a legend

Not sure why he deserves to be a legend, to be honest, but yes, he is a legend.

He did a good job, but those small and minimalistic designs were only possible because of the efforts of entire teams of engineers, of which the public never heard anything.

[bigyabai]

And many of those designs were made at Ive's behest, against the wishes of entire teams of engineers. I feel like we have his "courage" to blame for the Butterfly keyboard, terrible Mac thermals and the lack of ports on "Pro" computers.

[bobxmax]

I absolutely despise comments like these, and you only see them on HN.

It's like saying great architects aren't great, it's the construction workers who should get the credit.

[npollock]

"The takeover of io will provide OpenAI with about 55 hardware engineers, software developers and manufacturing experts"

6.5B / 55 = $118 million per engineer

not a cheap aquihire

[hinkley]

Who now expect to be paid.

[robbomacrae]

To quote from the article regarding Humane and the Rabbit r1 personal assistant device: “Those were very poor products,” said Ive, 58. “There has been an absence of new ways of thinking expressed in products.”

[joshstrange]

To quote myself: "Jony Ive made incredibly poor products his last years at Apple" - So his opinion of what constitutes a "poor product" is suspect (R1 and Humane were bad products but just because you can tell what is a bad product doesn't mean you can make a good one).

[vjvjvjvjghv]

They were not thin enough.

[arusahni]

This is the same dude who brought us the butterfly keyboard, so I'm anticipating a form-beating-function failure (if they actually ship something).

[izolate]

It's also the same dude who brought us beloved products in Apple's lineup. It's almost a meme at this point to say that Jony Ive's genius needs a containing force like Steve Jobs. Perhaps Sam Altman can fill that role.

[fallinditch]

Agreed. It's hard to think of a new product category for smart devices ... unless maybe Smart HATS! OK folks so remember where you heard it first - ultra stylish head gear with flip-down visor screen anyone?

[Pxtl]

Even as a joke that's still just a goofier version of smart glasses. There really is nothing new under the sun.

[yahoozoo]

Eye contacts that have a HUD could be cool. But that’s not really something you need someone like Ive for.

[pzo]

Humane was very impressive product from hardware perspective and design but poor execution and software (partially because they don't own smartphone os like android/iOS).

If similar hardware was:

- released by apple or google and deeply integrated with android/iOS

- embedded inside apple watch / pixel watch

- embedded inside slim airpods case that could be wear as pendant

- apple had siri as good as gemini and very good local STT to reduce latency

- MCP clients got more adopted by integrated in smartphones AI assistants

then it could be a hit. They lost because they shipped to early, without having big pockets for long game, without owning android OS / iOS and charged big price + subscription for this gadgets.

I think google currently is the best positioned to pull seamless experience with pixel devices (smartphone, watch, buds, gemini)

[Handy-Man]

But Meta is thriving with Meta Ray Bans, they have sold over 2M as of few months back. (Yes I know that number seems small compared to other devices, but for a new form factor, that seems like a great early success)

[Eggpants]

It take a special kind of person to think, yeah, I'll wear a live camera and microphone connected to Facebook...

[croes]

Where is they AR/VR part in the Ray Bans?

It’s cameras, speakers, microphones but no display.

[ygjb]

Meta Ray Bans and Googles Project Aura are products that I absolutely want, but absolutely don't want to buy them from either of those companies, or any company as invasive as they are.

It's long past time for enhanced privacy regulation in the North American market because these products are going to be wildly invasive as people depend on them to mediate their experience with the world. I don't know what the right answer, and I am very much aware that building products like these that don't focus on monetizing user interaction and advertising would likely mean that they are priced out for lower income users, but I hope someone smarter than me can figure it out :S

[PokemonNoGo]

That's how I read the article and came to find your comments. AI bought a human.