The tech blogosphere is abuzz with news of the Rabbit R1, a new AI-powered gizmo we’re all supposed to carry around in our pockets. Tellingly, the articles written gush about numbers—$199 price, 2.3GHz processor, 128GB of storage—but there’s a dearth of info on what this thing is actually supposed to do. What the hell is this thing, why would anyone need it?
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Sitting through the 25-minute intro video, presented by tech entrepreneur Jesse Lyu, it appears the “problem” the device was created to solve is that we have too many apps on our smartphones. It is a hassle, apparently, to have to press one button to access a ride-hailing app, then have to press other buttons to order food from a delivery app. To see these things as tedious is perhaps a generational thing; those that grew up having to physically hail taxis in a rainstorm, or dig through a stack of takeout menus and call a phone number that might be busy, presumably see pushing buttons on a rectangle instead as magic.
So what the R1 does, as far as I can tell, is take verbal instructions from you, and then it deals with the apps (which you still need to be signed into, through the company’s web portal) unseen, acting as your proxy. Visual feedback, provided for confirmation’s sake, is provided on a small 2.88″ screen. It also takes a SIM card, but it’s not clear what the plan is here—are you meant to sign up and pay for a second phone number? And what is the camera for, or more specifically, where do the photos go once you take them, and how do you access them?
I will say the physical object (designed “in collaboration” with Teenage Engineering) is handsome. Lefties may be displeased, however, that the two physical controls—a physical scroll wheel and a button—are located on the right.
The company has been taking individual pre-orders, in batches of 10,000 units, and says the first three batches are sold out. They expect to begin shipping this March.
Here’s a somewhat-condensed version of the introductory video, if you’re curious:
Source: core77