Apple's Former Design Chief Jony Ive Called Phones And Laptops 'Legacy Platforms:' Sundar Pichai Says Pulling Out A 'Black Glass Display Rectangle' Won't Make Sense Forever
Jony Ive, Apple's former design chief, labeled smartphones and laptops as "legacy products," indicating they no longer represent the future of computing. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, supported this view, suggesting that future computing will be more ambient and fluid, moving beyond traditional devices. Despite these insights, consumers remain hesitant to adopt new technologies, as seen with the failures of products like Humane's AI Pin and Rabbit's R1. Current AR/VR headsets also face challenges, including high costs and limited use cases.
As tech's most influential minds rethink the future of computing, their vision faces a market still not sold on the alternatives.
What Happened: Last week, in a video, Jony Ive, Apple Inc.'s AAPL legendary former design chief, described smartphones and laptops as "legacy products," suggesting they no longer represent the future of computing.
Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL CEO Sundar Pichai echoed the sentiment in an interview with The Verge's Nilay Patel that was published on Tuesday, noting, "At some point in the future, consuming content by pulling out this black glass display rectangle… is not the most intuitive way to do it."
Pichai acknowledged that computing will evolve to be more ambient and fluid, available "in multiple ways around you," from tablets to smart glasses. "It makes sense," he said, "but I think it's going to take some time."
Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox.
Why It’s Important: While tech leaders envision a post-smartphone world, consumers aren't rushing to embrace the hardware pitched to replace it. Some attempts to disrupt the status quo have stumbled.
Humane's AI Pin promised a phone-free future but flopped amid harsh reviews, overheating issues, and low sales, ultimately leading to the company's acquisition by HP Inc. HPQ.
Similarly, Rabbit's R1 generated buzz but remained niche, offering limited functionality versus existing smartphones.
AR/VR headsets like Apple's Vision Pro and Meta Platforms, Inc.'s META Quest are advancing, yet still face challenges such as high costs, limited use cases, and physical discomfort.
Even stylish options like Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses haven't broken into the mainstream due to privacy concerns and a lack of compelling features.
Alphabet received a growth score of 88.63% from Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings. Click here to see how it compares with other companies like Apple, Meta and HP.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.
- Why Google’s Demis Hassabis Disagrees With Co-Founder Sergey Brin On When AGI Will Arrive: ‘I Have Quite A High Bar’
Photo courtesy: Rokas Tenys / Shutterstock.com
