Ex-Apple Engineers Launch Button AI Hardware That Looks Like iPod Shuffle

This AI Button Wearable From Ex-Apple Engineers Looks Like an iPod Shuffle

Everybody seems to want to stick AI into some oddly shaped box or another. Sometimes it's a note transcriber or a wearable pin that doesn't quite work, or an always-listening Friend necklace that ultimately ends up being a vessel for shitposting. Now there is a button. Chris Nolet and Ryan Burgoyne are former Apple employees who worked on developing the Apple Vision Pro. They're associated with startup accelerator Y Combinator, and the duo's new device, available for preorder for $179 and set to ship in December, is an AI hardware puck simply called Button. The Button does what it says on the brushed aluminum tin. It is a button, inside a case that looks (deliberately) like an iPod Shuffle. Inside is a generative AI chatbot. Press the button to enable the chatbot to listen, answer questions, and take demands. It will answer out loud or can connect to earbuds or smart glasses via Bluetooth. It's a simpler use case than the obvious comparison that is the Humane Ai Pin, a wearable device released in 2024 that was billed as a veritable smartphone replacement but failed to deliver on its promises and was shut down a year later. The Button boys want there to be a couple of differentiators for their gadget, namely privacy and immediacy. The device only works when you push the button, so it does not listen passively to absolutely everything around it. Nolet says the focus on privacy comes from his experience meeting and talking with someone he later found out had been recording their entire conversation with a wearable device. "It really freaked me out," Nolet says. "It's one thing if I make a conscious decision to share something, but that's totally a different thing. If people are just wearing around these pendants, or they're recording all of our conversations, I think it feels a little icky to me."

AI Gadgets Are Barely Trying Anymore

AI gadgets might not have the best track record right now, but if a new startup from some ex-Apple folks is any indication, it can still get worse. As reported by Wired, Chris Nolet and Ryan Burgoyne, who worked on the Apple Vision Pro, are preparing to launch an AI-based wearable simply called Button in December, which is a $180, well... button that (drum roll) uses a large language model (LLM) and looks kind of like an iPod Shuffle. The idea, as Button's creators would pitch it, is that you press the button and talk with a chatbot. which can answer questions and "take demands," as Wired phrases it. It has built-in speakers, apparently, but can also connect to wireless earbuds or headphones via Bluetooth if you don't feel like blabbing to your AI pendant out loud. Not to throw shade here, but Wired's account of Button misses lots of critical questions you might have about AI devices like this, so I'm just going to run through what we still don't know about Button. While Wired says "inside is a generative AI chatbot," it's unclear to me if that means Button is processing AI on-device, which would be a big difference compared to relying on your phone. Wired doesn't mention which AI model(s) Button uses or whether they can be customized, and it also doesn't cover whether Button can be used on-the-go via cellular or whether it relies on your phone for internet via Bluetooth, though I got an answer to that part myself via Button's site. According to them, Button uses your phone's internet via Bluetooth and will not support Android at launchâ€"just iOS. Another major gap is how the device is worn: it's a pin, but it's unclear whether it attaches magnetically like previous AI gadgets from the likes of Humane. While Button's founders tell Wired that Button tackles one of the biggest pain points in similar gadgetsâ€"response timeâ€"it's also unclear how exactly it delivers its alleged quick responses. That's not even taking into account that response times are largely dependent on your connectivity at the time; the fact is, if you have bad internet, you probably have a bad chatbot. Unless it's done on-device! Which, again... we do not know for sure. Button only works when you push the device's titular button, apparently, so it's not recording all the time, though Wired doesn't specify if it's a push-and-hold kind of thingâ€"I assume it's a push-and-hold kind of thing. Oh, and one last thing not mentioned in Wired's account: Button is selling subscriptions for "Button AI Pro," which costs $7.99 per month, though it's unclear which features are paywalled. I've reached out to Button with my questions and will update this post when I know more. Even outside of the laundry list of open questions I have about Button, though, the whole thing just feels a little lazy. Humane's Ai Pin largely sucked, but at least it tried something. Paying $180 for a button that just uses ChatGPT on your phone or whatever (if that's indeed what it does) is exactly the kind of thing that most people would consider sketchy. Trust me, I've reviewed similar devices, and it ain't fun. But hey... AI! Maybe simplicity will make this one feel more useful, but I get the feeling that I'm going to be smashing the "pass" button on this one.

Ex-Apple engineers create an AI button - but can't explain why

I said a couple of years ago that AI hardware devices were like trying to invent the iPod after the iPhone. Two former Apple engineers appear to have leaned into this with an AI button that bears more than a passing resemblance to an iPod shuffle. While the AI wearable does address the horrendous privacy problem created by its erstwhile competitors, the duo still haven't provided a convincing explanation as to why it isn't an app ... Previous attempts at AI wearables didn't go well. Marques Brownlee captured the essence of most reviews when he described the Humane AI pin as the worst product he'd ever reviewed and the Rabbit R1 as "barely reviewable." My own view of dedicated AI hardware devices is that they make no sense when we already carry one. The iPod was one of the greatest inventions in the world ... at the time. But much as I still love that concept, to me it no longer makes sense to carry a dedicated chunk of hardware just to play all the music I own, when I can instead use the device which is already in my pocket to play (almost) all the music in the world, whether or not I own it. It's the same thing with AI hardware today. If smartphones didn't exist, these devices would be enormously exciting, and I'd want one, despite their current limitations. But smartphones do exist, and I can't see a single reason why these devices aren't simply apps. Wired reports that Chris Nolet and Ryan Burgoyne, two former Apple engineers who worked on the Vision Pro, have now created their own AI hardware device simply called Button. It is a button, inside a case that looks (deliberately) like an iPod Shuffle. Inside is a generative AI chatbot. Press the button to enable the chatbot to listen, answer questions, and take demands. It will answer out loud or can connect to earbuds or smart glasses via Bluetooth. Pressing the button to activate it does at least address the privacy nightmare created by always-on devices, but the pair still seem to have no answer to the question why it isn't simply an app.