1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: and a law of all things tech and last week 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:27,479 Speaker 1: was c e S one, which for many reasons was 6 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,479 Speaker 1: very different from ce S events in years past. For 7 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: one thing, this c e S was fully virtual, so 8 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: instead of dominating the Las Vegas Strip, the event switched 9 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: over to a series of press conference streams from various companies. 10 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: Reporters who normally would be spending time wandering booths and 11 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 1: securing on location interviews and occasionally trampling me if I 12 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: happened to get between them and free food. We're instead 13 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: covering press releases and video streams, though a few also 14 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: had a chance to get some hands on time with 15 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: some of the technology when companies would ship stuff to them. 16 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: But in one way, I suspect c e S T 17 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: one will be like many other ce S events of 18 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: years past, and that some of the things that were 19 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: shown off there are never actually going to make it 20 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: to the market. That can be a little frustrating for 21 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: some people, including myself. I mean, it is the Consumer 22 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: Electronics Show after all, or at least it used to be. 23 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: You actually are not supposed to call it that anymore. 24 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: In fact, the official c S media kit includes the 25 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: sentence quote, please do not use Consumer Electronics Show or 26 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: International ce S to refer to the event. End quote. 27 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: I'm not actually sure which year marked the official point 28 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: where c e S no longer really stands for anything. 29 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, as an initialism, but the Consumer 30 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: Technology Association, that's the organization responsible for throwing the event, 31 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: that Consumer Electronics Show is really too narrow a focus 32 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: for what c e S is today. I mean, a 33 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: lot of the stuff you find at c e S 34 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: doesn't really fit the mold of consumer electronics. Some of 35 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: it will never see the light of the day as 36 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: a as a consumer product. Some of it's meant as 37 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 1: an enterprise product. Some of it doesn't really have a 38 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: physical form. You might be talking about apps, and sometimes 39 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 1: you're talking about stuff that is related to electronics, but 40 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: itself is not an electronic So I get why they 41 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: wanted to get away from that specific name. So in 42 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: this episode, I thought I might cover a few gadgets 43 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,360 Speaker 1: and technologies that got time on the showroom floor of 44 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,519 Speaker 1: c E S. Events in the past, but they never 45 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: made it to something that consumers could actually purchase. And 46 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: I might mention a couple of examples from this past 47 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: c E S. I actually already alluded to this in 48 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: a previous episode of tech Stuff when I covered the news, 49 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: I talked about Razor and Project Hazel and Project Brooklyn. 50 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: So those will probably come up again, and I'll probably 51 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: talk about a couple of things that haven't been shown 52 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,359 Speaker 1: off at CES, but had a similar path in that 53 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: they were announced but never actually emerged. So let's jump 54 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: on in. Also, I recommend that you look up some 55 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: of these on your own, especially if you can see 56 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: the pictures of them, because a lot of them are 57 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: really fun to look at. Now, sometimes we see a 58 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: product that isn't bad, it's just ahead of its time. 59 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: The implementation of the technology might be a little on 60 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: the crude side, and the price tag might be a 61 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: lot on the high side, and so an idea, while 62 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: a good one, might not go very far. That might 63 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: be why the robot called Genus never really had a chance. 64 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: Genus that's g e in Us, debuted at c S NREE. 65 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: The robot looks a little bit like a pedestal on wheels, 66 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: kind of similar to some of the robots that Samsung 67 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: showed off at the c E S one like uh 68 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: like the bot Handy robot. However, the Genus robot is 69 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: a little more angular. It's not quite so smooth and 70 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: round as the other robots are. It's also quint essentially 71 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: eighties in style, so I recommend you check it out. 72 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: The promotional pamphlet for Genus said it is quote fully 73 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: programmed for beginners, yet is programmable for advanced users end quote. 74 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: Now clearly, the Robotics International Corporation, which was the company 75 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: behind Genus, saw how personal computers were beginning to take 76 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: off in the consumer market, and they knew that they 77 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: would need to remove some of the barriers of entry 78 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 1: for the average person, that is, the average wealthy person. 79 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: Because this robot, depending on the options you picked, could 80 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: cost upwards of twelve thousand dollars in nine three, and 81 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: when we adjust that for inflation, that's more than thirty 82 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 1: thousand bucks today, a princely some I mean you could 83 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: buy a car for that. Anyway, Genus was to have 84 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 1: a lot of cool features that we would later much 85 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 1: much later, seeing products like the Roomba. It was supposed 86 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: to be able to learn your home and map out 87 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: the environment and learn where obstacles were so it could 88 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: avoid bumping into things and maneuver around. It could return 89 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,799 Speaker 1: to its charging station on its own when its batteries 90 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: got got really low. Uh. It could even be equipped 91 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: with a vacuum. So gosh, I mean it was a roomba. 92 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: I mean not really. It wasn't like an official roomba, 93 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: but you get what I mean. The technology behind this 94 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: was pretty impressive for the day. It included stuff like 95 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: a computer system with at least forty eight whole killer 96 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: bytes of memory. Yalza, had a CRT display, had an 97 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: optional keyboard so you could program it if you wanted to, 98 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: had passive smoke detectors, motion detectors, and more. But Genas 99 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,360 Speaker 1: never got much further than its debut at c E 100 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: S and Robotics International Corporation would dissolve sometime in seven. Well, 101 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 1: I think the product was far too ambitious for the time. 102 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: It was certainly an indicator of where things would eventually 103 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: end up, although it would take a couple of decades 104 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,599 Speaker 1: and we're still seeing companies like the aforementioned Samsung introduced 105 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: large robots at c E SE So that trend continues 106 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: as well. We don't tend to see those large robots 107 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: actually getting adopted into the consumer market, but we see 108 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: a lot of that technology kind of trickled down into 109 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: other implementations like roomba. Speaking of Samsung and robots, we're 110 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: still waiting on Bali, that's the spherical robot that the 111 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 1: company showed off at C E S For that matter, 112 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: we're still waiting on scout About. What's scaled about? You ask, well, 113 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:59,479 Speaker 1: it's about always being prepared if I remember correctly. Huh, 114 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: how was a joke? No? Really, The scout About was 115 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,039 Speaker 1: the name of a line of robots Samsung showed off 116 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: at C E S N. The scout About robots look 117 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: like little domes on wheels. I read one review that 118 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: said it looked like little motorcycle helmets that were scooting around. 119 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: They could roam autonomously around your home and the purpose 120 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: of the scout About was to monitor your home for 121 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: the purposes of safety. It was to have ultrasonic sensors 122 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: as well as a passive infrared system, and it would 123 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: let the robot sense everything from sounds to the presence 124 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: of smoke. And it also had a temperature sensor. If 125 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: it were to detect a danger like a fire or 126 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,679 Speaker 1: someone breaking a window to gain entry to a house, 127 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: it could sound an alarm and phone home to a 128 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: security service, which then could coordinate with authorities. Samsung said 129 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: the plan was for the robots to hit the market 130 00:07:55,960 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 1: by early spring of nine, with a price of where 131 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: between a thousand and fifteen hundred dollars. So again, this 132 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: is that would be somewhere between eighteen hundred and dollars today. However, 133 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: the scout about never came out. Now, I'm not saying 134 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: that last year's Bali robot will also never come out, 135 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: Nor am I saying that Samsung's bought Handy robot demonstrated 136 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: this year's virtual c e s will never come out. 137 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:32,240 Speaker 1: But I wouldn't hold my breath. All that being said, 138 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: I think it's only fair I point out that, at 139 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 1: least in some cases, it's not so much about a 140 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: specific product, but rather the advancement of the technologies that 141 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 1: power that prototype or concept. So, in other words, the 142 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 1: bot Handy, which Samsung showed off picking up a bottle 143 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: of wine and pouring a glass of wine for somebody, 144 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: or another video where it showed the robot filling up 145 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: a dishwasher. It's not really necessarily about the row bot. 146 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: It's showing off something that actually is pretty darn cool, 147 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: and that's the fact that the AI guiding this robot 148 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,599 Speaker 1: gives the robot guidance on how hard or soft the 149 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: robot's grip should be whenever it picks up something. You know, 150 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: we humans get a pretty intuitive grasp on that kind 151 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: of stuff to use a pun, but for robots it's different. 152 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 1: A robot doesn't innately know how tightly it needs to 153 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: grip something, and so it might approach a cinder block 154 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: or a breeze block for you folks in the UK, 155 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 1: and a delicate champagne glass with the same amount of 156 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:40,320 Speaker 1: gripping force. That would probably not work out so well. 157 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: It would either be two week a grip for the 158 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: cender block and so it wouldn't be able to pick 159 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: it up, or it would crush the glass and it's 160 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:51,679 Speaker 1: mighty robotic hand. Either way, not exactly the result you're 161 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: looking for now. All that being said, the scout about 162 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: was being demonstrated as if it were actually about to 163 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: go on the market, so that particular example doesn't really 164 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: fit into the hole. This is more about showing off 165 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: a technology than making an actual product kind of thing. 166 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:12,960 Speaker 1: So maybe that was Samsung learning its lesson Sometimes the 167 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: stuff we see at c S is really just meant 168 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: to grab our attention period and doesn't indicate a sincere 169 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: desire to bring a product to market. I'm pretty sure 170 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 1: that was the thinking that went into the twenty twenty 171 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: robot marketed by Sharman that is, the toilet paper company, 172 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 1: and it was called robot because that's genius but not 173 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: genus anyway. The company had a booth set up complete 174 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: with a toilet where you could test out this robot, 175 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: though you were encouraged to, you know, not actually use 176 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: the toilet. The things you learned after experience. So you 177 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:54,560 Speaker 1: would sit on the throne and you would call out 178 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: for precious t P allegedly by using an app on 179 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: your smartphone, and a little two wheeled self balancing robot 180 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:04,959 Speaker 1: with a face plate that looked kind of like a 181 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: a semi abstract bear face, you know, very like like 182 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: children's drawing kind of bare face. The robot also had 183 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: little ears on top of it that the toilet paper 184 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: roll would sit between and it would wheel out with 185 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,200 Speaker 1: that roll of toilet paper on balanced on top of 186 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:23,559 Speaker 1: its head. Uh, you know, flat side down obviously, otherwise 187 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 1: it just roll all over the place. And there was 188 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: no way to see how the robot, which had no arms, 189 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: is just the wheels and a box, and the toilet 190 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,200 Speaker 1: paper roll would be on top of the box. There's 191 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: no way to see how the robot would get the 192 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: roll of toilet paper balanced on its head in the 193 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,840 Speaker 1: first place. I'm pretty sure there's just some poor booth 194 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 1: attendee behind the scenes whose job it was to place 195 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,200 Speaker 1: rolls of toilet paper on the self balancing robot before 196 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: it would wheel out of its alcove to the rescue. Again, 197 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 1: this was never really meant to come across as a 198 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: real product. It was more of a marketing gimmick. It 199 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,559 Speaker 1: is too bad, however, because as we saw in getting 200 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: hold of toilet paper was sometimes a challenge, and it 201 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: would be really useful to have a robot bear do 202 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: battle for you in grocery stores to get t P. 203 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,559 Speaker 1: But that was not meant to be Moving on in 204 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:19,679 Speaker 1: five two years after Genus rolled around at CS Commodore, 205 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:22,960 Speaker 1: the computer company that had been a real contender in 206 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: the early days of home computers revealed a portable computer, 207 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:29,960 Speaker 1: and what's amazing is that this one did not weigh 208 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: a ton. A lot of the early portable laptops were 209 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: portable in name only. They typically had a handle like 210 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,200 Speaker 1: a briefcase, and it required a strong back to lug 211 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: around places, But the Commodore l c D tipped the 212 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 1: scales and a smelt five pounds or about two point 213 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:51,560 Speaker 1: three kilograms. The Commodore l c D looked a bit 214 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:56,000 Speaker 1: like a truncated laptop, or maybe like a typewriter connected 215 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: to a small flip up l c D screen. That 216 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: screen could display up to sixteen lines of text, and 217 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: it could run a subset of software that was programmed 218 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,760 Speaker 1: for Commodore computers, but the l c D was not 219 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 1: fully compatible with the Commodore desktop line. Had a Rockwell 220 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 1: sixty five C one O two processor running at a 221 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: blistering one mega hurts clock speed. It boasted thirty two 222 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 1: kilobytes of memory, but it was expandable up to sixty 223 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,960 Speaker 1: four kilobytes. Now. While the company didn't announce a price 224 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:31,360 Speaker 1: for the planned product, analysts estimated that it would have 225 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:37,560 Speaker 1: likely retailed for around six hundred dollars, and in that 226 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,679 Speaker 1: would be let's see, for today's money, about one thousand, 227 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 1: one forty bucks. This project became the victim of internal 228 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: politics at Commodore, or so the story goes. So. The 229 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: way the story works is that the CEO of Commodore, 230 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: Marshall Smith, was talking to John Roach, the CEO of Tandy, 231 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:02,319 Speaker 1: another company that was selling computers, and during that conversation, 232 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: Roach told Smith that l c D s were going 233 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:10,480 Speaker 1: nowhere fast baby. Subsequently, Smith decided to cancel the Commodore 234 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,480 Speaker 1: l c D project, along with all other l c 235 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: D related projects at Commodore, and legend says that only 236 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:20,760 Speaker 1: five prototypes of the Commodore l c D were ever made, 237 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: but only two of them have ever been officially verified. 238 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: Let's jump around in time a bit more and head 239 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:32,000 Speaker 1: up town. I was actually at that ce S. One 240 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: of the ways that companies will try to stand out 241 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: from the crowd is to tap celebrities to announce or 242 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 1: endorse products. I was not the celebrity. I'm not a 243 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: celebrity at all. But these celebrities, these real celebrities, will 244 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: make an appearance at ce S for what I believe 245 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: could be described as here, let me check my notes, 246 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 1: um yeah, a truckload of money, at least I assume. So. 247 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: I mean, I have no idea how much Slash was 248 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:00,920 Speaker 1: paid to come on stage and two thousand eight to 249 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: play the opening riff of Welcome to the Jungle for 250 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: Bill Gates and then just disappear and smoke. But I 251 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: bet he was paid way more than I made that 252 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: entire year. Anyway, In eleven, a different celebrity showed off 253 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:20,359 Speaker 1: a product to all her little monsters. Yep, Lady Gaga 254 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: was at c s Inn. I'm actually really upset I 255 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: didn't get to go to the event where she announced this. 256 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,400 Speaker 1: I really wanted to see it. I wasn't terribly familiar 257 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: with Lady Gaga, but I knew spectacle when I heard it, 258 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 1: but unfortunately I was elsewhere. Anyway, she was partnering with 259 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 1: Polaroid to allegedly design and then unveil the g L 260 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: twenty glasses, a pair of very boxy looking sunglasses with 261 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: a built in camera and a digital display that was 262 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: also built into the frames. And I guess that with these, 263 00:15:55,840 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: Lady Gaga could become the Papa Rozzie. Oh lah ah, 264 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: poker face there, I've exhausted my Lady Gaga knowledge. Anyway, 265 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: While Lady Gaga could wear the glasses and look fashionably weird, 266 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: I think most of us would just look weird wearing them. 267 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: But it wouldn't matter because a year later there were 268 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:22,560 Speaker 1: still no g L twenty glasses on the market. Polaroid 269 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: claimed to still be planning a rollout, but another year 270 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: went by, and another, and by fourteen, Lady Gaga had 271 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: bid au Revoir to Polaroid and the two had parted ways, 272 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: still no glasses. Lady Gaga's involvement with the project definitely 273 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: got a lot of attention, but in the end, there 274 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: didn't seem to be much of a payoff, and depending 275 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: upon the terms of that partnership, it may have been 276 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: a big loss for Polaroid, which I think is a 277 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: shame because I still have a soft spot for Polaroid cameras. 278 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: We've got more gadgets that never made it to prime 279 00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: time coming up, but first let's take a quick akee 280 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,680 Speaker 1: and now for the that Smells funny category for c 281 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: E S gadgets that never went anywhere. And I'm being 282 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:18,680 Speaker 1: literal here because I want to chat about the I 283 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,919 Speaker 1: smell from the company Digita Sense. Yeah, this was a 284 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: real thing. I think of this as sort of the 285 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: Internet generation version of smellow Vision. This one made the 286 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: news back in two thousand one, so this was way 287 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:34,640 Speaker 1: before I ever went to c E S. And I'm 288 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: sorry about that, because I wish I could have seen 289 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 1: it in action. The device looked like a little pod 290 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:45,680 Speaker 1: with a shark fin like protrusion, and it had vents 291 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: through which sense could pump. The idea is that you 292 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: would load this thing up with some cartridges filled with 293 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:56,440 Speaker 1: scented oils, and the device would heat up specific oils 294 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: before using a fan to blow the smell out of 295 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,280 Speaker 1: the sense. By heating different combinations of those oils, it 296 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:07,359 Speaker 1: could produce different sense and it would connect via USB 297 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 1: to a computer. Now, just imagine the possibilities. You're on 298 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: your computer, you're checking out possible vacation destinations online, and 299 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: you're looking at a beach in Hawaii, and then your 300 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:23,400 Speaker 1: nostrils detect the scent of an ocean breeze. Maybe there's 301 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,639 Speaker 1: even a hint of coconut there. Or maybe you're playing 302 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,440 Speaker 1: a video game and you're rushing through a burning building 303 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,919 Speaker 1: and you can actually smell something that resembles would smoke, 304 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: or maybe you're looking at an ad for cookies and 305 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: you smell I mean cookies. You know, it definitely falls 306 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:42,439 Speaker 1: on the gimmicky side, But at the same time you 307 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: can kind of see how incorporating smells into other computer 308 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: activities could really increase a sense of immersion. The team 309 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 1: behind the ice Smell included Joel Lloyd Bellinson and Dexter Smith, 310 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:57,720 Speaker 1: both of whom had backgrounds in business. They envisioned a 311 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,639 Speaker 1: database of smells with an algorithm that would best match 312 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:05,399 Speaker 1: sense to whatever it was the computer was, you know, encountering, 313 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 1: so that way you would have a relevant smell. So 314 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 1: you wouldn't just have, oh, that smells like burned rubber 315 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,760 Speaker 1: while I'm looking at daisies. That would make no sense now, 316 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: I'm sure. They also envisioned a world in which people 317 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: would need to purchase refills for those scented oil cartridges, 318 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: kind of similar to how printer companies really count on 319 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: you having to order lots of new printer toner cartridges. 320 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: But unfortunately for the team, the idea received a little 321 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: more than ridicule, even for the name I Smell. Now, 322 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,639 Speaker 1: keep in mind they were launching this or trying to 323 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,159 Speaker 1: in two thousand one, That was two years before Apple 324 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,440 Speaker 1: had even launched the iPod, so they were actually anticipating 325 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:51,399 Speaker 1: the eye trend. The company failed to release anything to 326 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: market due to a distinct lack of consumer interest, and 327 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:58,879 Speaker 1: it faded away, and it really stinks. How about another 328 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,720 Speaker 1: category now, This one could be called the old bait 329 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,879 Speaker 1: and switch, or in this case, the belt and switch. 330 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: And I'm talking about Belty, which was one of those 331 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,879 Speaker 1: weird gadgets that gets a lot of buzz because you know, 332 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:15,520 Speaker 1: it's not another big screen TV or fitness tracker. That's 333 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:17,960 Speaker 1: one of the reasons a lot of these gadgets get 334 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:19,960 Speaker 1: a lot of coverage. It's not just that they're weird, 335 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: it's that they stand out because it's not yet another 336 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: version of something that we see all the time. BELTI 337 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:32,360 Speaker 1: appeared in and it was a smart belt. Yeah, like 338 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 1: the thing that holds up your trousers. BELTI was supposed 339 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,520 Speaker 1: to be able to make automatic adjustments all on its own, 340 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,639 Speaker 1: tightening or loosening as the occasion demands, such as when 341 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,720 Speaker 1: you go from sitting down to standing up or vice versa. 342 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:49,679 Speaker 1: Small motors inside the buckle would activate and increase or 343 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: decrease the tension on the belt accompanying the smart belt 344 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: was of course an app, and together belt and app 345 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,119 Speaker 1: would track activity and give you a running tab on 346 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 1: your waistline, just in case you were worried that you 347 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: were starting to feel a little too good about yourself. 348 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,200 Speaker 1: And it was going to market for around four hundred bucks. 349 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: This version of BELTI, however, failed to materialize beyond the 350 00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: demo models that shows like c S, it was supposed 351 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 1: to go to market later, and instead the Belty that 352 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:26,080 Speaker 1: would ultimately come out was a very different device. You 353 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: can buy a Belty today, but it is a ratchet 354 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:32,159 Speaker 1: style belt, so you can make minor adjustments, but you 355 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: have to do so manually. There's no motorized buckle doing 356 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,919 Speaker 1: it for you. The smart part of the belt, the 357 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: current Belty, is that it has a built in battery recharger, 358 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:48,920 Speaker 1: so you can charge your phone on your belt and 359 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,959 Speaker 1: plug your devices directly into the belt buckle. I guess 360 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: to give them more juice. Now, My guess is that 361 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: this recharging battery and the belt is itself a lithium 362 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: ion battery and noing how those can sometimes be a 363 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: little dodgy. I'd be a bit hesitant to strap one 364 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:10,680 Speaker 1: right up against my pants. I mean it's probably okay, right, 365 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: I mean, phones don't usually spontaneously combust unless it's the 366 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: Samsung Galaxy Notes seven. And yeah, I'm gonna skip BELTI 367 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:25,080 Speaker 1: but hey, Jonathan, I hear you ask. Yes, that's right, 368 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: I can hear you. How about you talk about a 369 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: product that was demonstrably a bad idea and that is 370 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:37,119 Speaker 1: why it never came to market. Okay, I guess I will. 371 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:42,879 Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Mattel Aristotle because who boy? Was 372 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 1: that a bad idea and the reaction to it would 373 00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: ultimately lead Mattel to cancel launch plans for this device. 374 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 1: Mattel unveiled the gadget at c E S And if 375 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 1: you really want an easy way to describe this thing, 376 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,440 Speaker 1: all you have to do is say it's Alexa, but 377 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 1: you know, for kids, shout out to the Hudsucker proxy 378 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,159 Speaker 1: for that one. Anyway, it was a smart home assistant 379 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:13,359 Speaker 1: similar to Amazon Echo or Google Home. Bundled with the 380 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:16,920 Speaker 1: smart speaker device was a camera, and the whole package 381 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: was supposed to retail for three dollars. The back end 382 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:23,760 Speaker 1: of the system included stuff like image recognition algorithms that 383 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: could recognize specific things within a child's room. Those specific things, 384 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,200 Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll surprise no one could include other Mattel toys. 385 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:36,159 Speaker 1: I'm going to paint a picture for you. Not the 386 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,199 Speaker 1: Mattel ever said this, but this is just something that 387 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,639 Speaker 1: I imagined when I was reading up on it. So 388 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,359 Speaker 1: think for a moment that you're a little kid and 389 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: you're in your room, and then suddenly the smart robot 390 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:52,160 Speaker 1: that lives in a speaker says to you, Hey, little 391 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,760 Speaker 1: so and so, how about you go pick up that 392 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 1: Hot Wheels car and play with it? Room? Room? That 393 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 1: sure is fun, isn't it. Man? And you know what 394 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: helps would be fun if you had the super Ultra 395 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: Deluxe Stunt Spectacular Hot Wheels set. Then that car would 396 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 1: go really fast and you would be the most super 397 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:14,959 Speaker 1: awesome cool kid in the universe. Hey, how about we 398 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,359 Speaker 1: ask Santa for that this year. Yeah, that's a great idea, 399 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:22,760 Speaker 1: you had, so and so. All right, So I'm definitely 400 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 1: taking some major poetic license here, but you get to 401 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: where I'm going right, The idea being this could easily 402 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: become a tool that Mattel could have used to try 403 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: and convince kids to get more Mattel toys. Numerous critics 404 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: also pointed out the other very glaring problems with privacy 405 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:45,160 Speaker 1: that a connected device complete with webcam would represent for parents. 406 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: And the fact is, Mattel did plan for the smart 407 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 1: device to allow you to do stuff like place orders 408 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:54,960 Speaker 1: for things like diapers, for example, because Aristotle could switch 409 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:57,639 Speaker 1: from child mode, where it would play with kids, to 410 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 1: adult mode, and then to up into Amazon's Alexa Assistant. Now, 411 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 1: I found all of this particularly surprising, not because the 412 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:09,959 Speaker 1: company would try to tap into that market that I 413 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: think was inevitable, but rather because Mattel had already been 414 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,880 Speaker 1: burned pretty badly with a Barbie doll called Hello Barbie 415 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:22,679 Speaker 1: from earlier on. This WiFi connected doll was vulnerable to 416 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: being hijacked. According to a security researcher named Matt Jakubowski, 417 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,359 Speaker 1: they could turn into a surveillance tool and spy on kids, 418 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: and that is beyond terrifying and so, faced with some 419 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: very tough questions, including some coming from politicians, Mattel decided 420 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:45,440 Speaker 1: to scuttle the plans for Aristotle later in Alright, I've 421 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:49,560 Speaker 1: talked about failed products, marketing, gimmicks, and stuff that falls 422 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 1: somewhere in between, But how about something that was called 423 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,640 Speaker 1: a scam. I mean, that's what some people said the 424 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: Phantom console was all about. And I've talked about the 425 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:05,119 Speaker 1: Phantom and other episodes recently when I talked about Google Stadia. 426 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: In two thousand four, the company behind the Phantom in 427 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:12,199 Speaker 1: Phinium Labs, showed off the Phantom at c e S 428 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:17,840 Speaker 1: at the Windows Embedded Devices stand only it wasn't switched 429 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,800 Speaker 1: on or connected to anything. It was really, you know, 430 00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:24,680 Speaker 1: a box. At this point, there was already speculation online 431 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,680 Speaker 1: that in Phinium Labs wasn't totally on the up and up. 432 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 1: There were message boards filled with threads by users who 433 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: claimed to have visited the listed office address for the 434 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: company only to find unoccupied space. There were investigations into 435 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,159 Speaker 1: the people behind the company, but the fact that the 436 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,679 Speaker 1: company was part of c e S and associated with 437 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 1: Microsoft made people wonder if perhaps it was legit. Despite 438 00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:54,639 Speaker 1: those early misgivings. At c e S two thousand five, 439 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:58,720 Speaker 1: in Phinium Labs would appear at the Nvidio booth. Visitors 440 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,200 Speaker 1: to the booth had a chance to actually play games 441 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:05,160 Speaker 1: on the console, but those games had already been installed 442 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: on the device, which meant no one can see how 443 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:10,159 Speaker 1: long it would take to download a full game to 444 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 1: the Phantom. That's what the Phantom was meant to be. 445 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 1: It had no optical drive. You were to download over 446 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,120 Speaker 1: a broadband connection all the games you wanted to play 447 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:21,400 Speaker 1: on it. It also meant that people would point out 448 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: that this made the Phantom no different from any other 449 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: kind of computer, because there are already computers that run 450 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:31,280 Speaker 1: the games that were running on the Phantom. So, as 451 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:34,159 Speaker 1: far as anyone knew, the Phantom so far consisted of 452 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,679 Speaker 1: a fabricated case that could be around an otherwise mundane 453 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:43,880 Speaker 1: collection of PC parts. The Phantom missed launch date after 454 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: launch date, and eventually it was clear that it was 455 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: never going to come out at all. Whether it was 456 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 1: all a hoax from the beginning or it was just 457 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:57,120 Speaker 1: a case of a product languishing in development remains an 458 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,480 Speaker 1: open question. I'd like to think that the team working 459 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 1: on the Phantom were sincere in their efforts. I have 460 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 1: suspicions about some of the business leaders, but I also 461 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,680 Speaker 1: suspect that the engineers at Infennium Labs were really trying 462 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:15,080 Speaker 1: to make a good, robust system. Infennium Labs would eventually 463 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,879 Speaker 1: produce actual products, but they fell into categories like keyboards 464 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,680 Speaker 1: and stuff, not actual consoles. One thing I've seen at 465 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: numerous c e S shows are devices that claim to 466 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:29,760 Speaker 1: read your brain waves and generate a response based on them. 467 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 1: That response could be anything from an app encouraging you 468 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 1: to relax if it senses that you know you're being 469 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 1: really tense and anxious, or it could be a game 470 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:43,000 Speaker 1: where your concentration affects what's going on. I'm reminded of 471 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: a game called mind Flex that I saw at ce 472 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: S one year. This one actually came out, so this 473 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:50,680 Speaker 1: is something that did make it to market. This was 474 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:54,480 Speaker 1: a toy from Mattel, or at least you know, distributed 475 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:58,000 Speaker 1: by Mattel, that used a column of air to suspend 476 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,800 Speaker 1: a ping pong ball as if ball were levitating. A 477 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 1: fan inside the game's base would provide the column of air, 478 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,479 Speaker 1: and you would wear a headset and by focusing, you 479 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,480 Speaker 1: could cause that column of air to raise or lower 480 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,600 Speaker 1: the ball. Essentially, what you're doing is changing the RPM 481 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: speed of the fan that's generating the column of air. Meanwhile, 482 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: a rotating playing field would introduce various obstacles, and only 483 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,680 Speaker 1: by making the ball move to the correct height would 484 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,720 Speaker 1: you be able to get through all the obstacles. The 485 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: headset relies on e G. Readings of brain waves, or 486 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,280 Speaker 1: at least that's the claim. Now there's some disagreement about 487 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: whether or not it really works the way they claim 488 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,400 Speaker 1: it does, or if it just presents the illusion of control. 489 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:46,480 Speaker 1: But I don't see why it wouldn't be at least 490 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 1: theoretically possible assuming you had decent sensors because e G. 491 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 1: S you know, picking up e G. Signals through the skull. 492 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: That's a little tricky. But anyway, let's get back to 493 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: what I really wanted to cover, and that's the Harry 494 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:04,520 Speaker 1: mind Blink, which in some ways sounds similar like the 495 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,840 Speaker 1: mind flex. This was a device that had a wearable 496 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 1: component to it. You would put on what looked like 497 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: a plastic headband, had a wire attached to it that 498 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 1: would lead to an atari console and you try to 499 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:22,680 Speaker 1: control a video game using not your thoughts. Despite the 500 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:26,240 Speaker 1: name mind link, you weren't, you know, focusing. Instead, you 501 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: were using the muscles in your forehead. The band had 502 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 1: infrared sensors that would pick up the movement of those muscles, 503 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 1: so by tensing or relaxing your forehead, you could send 504 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: commands as if you were holding some sort of controller. Uh, 505 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,400 Speaker 1: it wouldn't work with just any game. It's not like 506 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 1: you could hook this up to an to play any title. 507 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 1: They had specific titles made for this device in particular. Uh, 508 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 1: the inputs are pretty primitive, so they were more like 509 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 1: the type of controls you would have with a paddle 510 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 1: based game like Breakout or Pong or something like that. 511 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 1: The mind Link was supposed to come out in nine four, 512 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: but you know it didn't now. At the time, Atari 513 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: was also dealing with the total collapse of the home 514 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:13,120 Speaker 1: video game market because the industry had suffered a catastrophic 515 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,720 Speaker 1: failure in nineteen eight three due to many different factors, 516 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 1: including a saturation of the market and some supremely bad 517 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: business decisions, along with a lot of just garbage systems 518 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:29,040 Speaker 1: and games. And no one was coming out of this 519 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:33,959 Speaker 1: sparkling clean. Everybody had made some dumb decisions leading up 520 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,800 Speaker 1: to this, and so the mind Link was never actually 521 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: meant to be. Besides, I hear a lot of users 522 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: would actually get really tired after using it for just 523 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 1: a couple of minutes because they were scrunching up their 524 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: foreheads like crazy, just to get through a game which 525 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 1: doesn't sound like much fun. Okay, we've got some more 526 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,640 Speaker 1: examples to chat about in a bit, but first let's 527 00:31:53,720 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 1: take another quick break. Of course, not every gadget that 528 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:08,880 Speaker 1: fails to make it to market debuts at c S. 529 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 1: In fact, some companies preferred to announce their latest innovations 530 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:16,560 Speaker 1: well outside the c e S trade show window because 531 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 1: it can be pretty hard to get noticed in all 532 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:22,520 Speaker 1: the hoop la at c e S. And there are 533 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 1: a few examples of concepts and prototypes that we learned 534 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,960 Speaker 1: about elsewhere that likewise never became a product that you 535 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:31,320 Speaker 1: could actually buy. So I thought it would cover a 536 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 1: couple of the more notable ones we learned about these 537 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: examples outside the c e S show floor. And sometimes 538 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:40,360 Speaker 1: the stuff we see announced is coming out of a 539 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 1: company that is going through a tumultuous time, and the 540 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:46,360 Speaker 1: reason that the gadget never makes it beyond the showroom 541 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 1: floor is because of big changes inside the company in 542 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: an effort for it to remain relevant. That's kind of 543 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 1: what happened to the Commodore l c D, It's kind 544 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:58,480 Speaker 1: of what happened to the Atari mind Link, and it's 545 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:01,720 Speaker 1: also kind of what happened to the Palm Folio, which 546 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: I thought was a genuinely neat idea back in the day. 547 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 1: As the name tells you, the device came from Palm Incorporated. 548 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 1: Palm was known for being a leader in personal digital 549 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: assistance back in the day, and for those young uns 550 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:19,400 Speaker 1: among you, a personal digital assistant in those days was 551 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:23,800 Speaker 1: kind of like a primitive smartphone, only without the phone part. 552 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,600 Speaker 1: You would use one to manage your contacts, take notes, 553 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,440 Speaker 1: keep your calendar, that kind of thing. And typically you 554 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 1: would physically connect these early PDAs to a computer, usually 555 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:39,640 Speaker 1: using some sort of proprietary cable or cradle, and you 556 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 1: would synchronize data from a computer program to your p 557 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: d A. But by two thousand seven, when Palm announced 558 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:51,880 Speaker 1: the Folio, Palm had progressed from the simple PDAs of 559 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:56,080 Speaker 1: the past and was not making smartphones like the Trio. Now. 560 00:33:56,120 --> 00:34:00,200 Speaker 1: These smartphones catered more to working professionals than to the 561 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:04,120 Speaker 1: mainstream crowd, kind of like BlackBerry. Palm was a brand 562 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:08,120 Speaker 1: used mostly by white collar executive types plus some nerdy 563 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:11,880 Speaker 1: tech journalist types that I know, though there was some 564 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:16,320 Speaker 1: adoption beyond that niche market. One such line of smartphones 565 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:18,840 Speaker 1: from Palm as I mentioned was the Trio line of devices, 566 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:22,680 Speaker 1: and the Folio was meant as a companion for handsets 567 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:27,279 Speaker 1: like the Trio. The Folio was a very small laptop, 568 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:31,080 Speaker 1: categorized as a sub notebook. In fact, if it had 569 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:34,120 Speaker 1: just come out a couple of years later, we probably 570 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 1: would have called it a netbook. The computer didn't have 571 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:41,160 Speaker 1: super hefty specs. It was meant to be a versatile, 572 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:45,719 Speaker 1: lightweight device that had a long battery life. It used 573 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,240 Speaker 1: Lennox as its operating system. It had two hundred fifty 574 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:53,520 Speaker 1: six megabytes of memory, a four hundred sixteen mega Hurts processor, 575 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,719 Speaker 1: and an l c D display. It was meant to 576 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:00,800 Speaker 1: be paired with a smartphone. It had WiFi, what functions 577 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,680 Speaker 1: like email would work in concert with the phone, rather 578 00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:07,840 Speaker 1: than going from the Folio to the WiFi network directly. 579 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:10,400 Speaker 1: It was a bit of an odd duck in that regard. 580 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:14,720 Speaker 1: Palm marketed the device as an alternative to heavier laptop 581 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:18,000 Speaker 1: computers and pointed out that pairing it with a smartphone 582 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:20,840 Speaker 1: would give users Internet access even if there were no 583 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:25,280 Speaker 1: WiFi networks available in their area. The pitch was really 584 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,440 Speaker 1: toward business users who travel a lot, as the device 585 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,359 Speaker 1: suspects didn't fill many people with confidence that you could 586 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:34,280 Speaker 1: use it to do other stuff like, you know, watch 587 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,239 Speaker 1: videos or anything along those lines. But then that's not 588 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:41,720 Speaker 1: the purpose that Palm was pushing it for. The Folio 589 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: never made it two stores. Palm actually canceled it, choosing 590 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:49,600 Speaker 1: instead to focus on refreshing its smartphone technologies. Palm was 591 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:51,959 Speaker 1: in a bit of an existential crisis at the time, 592 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 1: with analysts suspecting that the company would either go out 593 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:59,239 Speaker 1: of business or accept some other companies offered to buy 594 00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:02,400 Speaker 1: it out. In two thousand eight, Palm showed off the 595 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:06,759 Speaker 1: web OS operating system that's web OS and introduced the 596 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:10,200 Speaker 1: Palm Pre smartphone at that year's ce S. That's the 597 00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:12,960 Speaker 1: product that actually did make it to market, but the 598 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:15,880 Speaker 1: Pre failed to gain much traction in a market that 599 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:19,239 Speaker 1: was already being dominated by Apple and the iPhone. And 600 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:22,160 Speaker 1: it didn't help that Palm had signed an exclusive deal 601 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:26,840 Speaker 1: with Sprint as the mobile carrier that limited the amount 602 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 1: of people that Palm could reach because it was only 603 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:34,400 Speaker 1: for Sprint customers. In Hewlett Packard announced it was acquiring 604 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:37,440 Speaker 1: Palm for one point to billion dollars in an all 605 00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:41,280 Speaker 1: cash deal. HP would later end all support for Palm 606 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:44,400 Speaker 1: and web os devices, and it seemed like Palm was 607 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:48,919 Speaker 1: well and truly dead. But in a company called TCL 608 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:52,719 Speaker 1: revealed it had acquired the Palm brand name, and so 609 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:55,480 Speaker 1: the name lives on, though you could make an argument 610 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:59,680 Speaker 1: that there's very little connective tissue to the old Palm company. 611 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,160 Speaker 1: Tc L, by the way, was one of the companies 612 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:06,440 Speaker 1: that this past c e S showing off concept smartphones 613 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:09,120 Speaker 1: with expanding O LED screens, kind of similar to the 614 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:13,720 Speaker 1: LG rollable. While we're on the subject of innovative portable 615 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:18,120 Speaker 1: computing devices, let's talk about the Microsoft Courier. Like the Folio, 616 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:20,840 Speaker 1: this was a concept that we learned about outside of 617 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:24,360 Speaker 1: c e S, with most reports about the prototype device 618 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:28,560 Speaker 1: appearing in late two thousand nine. This predated Apple's launch 619 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:31,680 Speaker 1: of the iPad, which makes it even more impressive. Really, 620 00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:35,840 Speaker 1: the idea was for a dual screen portable computer device 621 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,560 Speaker 1: similar to a tablet, but really more of a booklet. 622 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:43,520 Speaker 1: The device could fold into a closed position like a book, 623 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:47,320 Speaker 1: with the two screens facing one another. The device included 624 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,080 Speaker 1: a touch screen that users could interact with using either 625 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,960 Speaker 1: their finger or a stylus. The pitch for Courier was 626 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,560 Speaker 1: that this was meant to be a device to allow 627 00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:59,920 Speaker 1: for content creation. It was meant for creatives who had 628 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:04,839 Speaker 1: less of an emphasis on traditional productivity applications. And that said, 629 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:09,200 Speaker 1: it as distinct from Microsoft's mainstream strategy. It ran on 630 00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:12,839 Speaker 1: a modified version of Windows, and ultimately the fact that 631 00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:16,840 Speaker 1: it didn't fall right in line with Microsoft product strategy 632 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:20,360 Speaker 1: kind of doomed the courier. Also, a different team inside 633 00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:24,360 Speaker 1: Microsoft was working to develop a Windows variant for tablet computers, 634 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:28,239 Speaker 1: which would represent a forked development path, and that in 635 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:31,440 Speaker 1: general is a bad thing if you want a cohesive strategy. 636 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:35,880 Speaker 1: By Microsoft had killed the project. Now, I mentioned Razor 637 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:39,040 Speaker 1: and its Project Hazel, which is a smart mask within 638 00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:43,359 Speaker 1: n certification that we we don't really expect to see 639 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:47,480 Speaker 1: come to market. There's also Project Brooklyn, the smart gaming 640 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:51,680 Speaker 1: chair concept that has a rollable display that extends from 641 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:53,759 Speaker 1: the back of the chair over the head of the 642 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:56,160 Speaker 1: person who's sitting in the chair. Then it stretches the 643 00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:58,360 Speaker 1: screen out right in front of them at head level. 644 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:00,800 Speaker 1: I don't think we're going to see either of those 645 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:03,520 Speaker 1: in the real world, at least not in those forms. 646 00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:07,359 Speaker 1: But Razor has a history of doing this, not that 647 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:09,640 Speaker 1: I think the company is trying to pull a fast 648 00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:13,200 Speaker 1: one or anything. It's often using some pretty ambitious designs 649 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:16,800 Speaker 1: to help push the general industry forward or to propose 650 00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:20,200 Speaker 1: alternatives to how things are traditionally done. The fact that 651 00:39:20,239 --> 00:39:23,040 Speaker 1: these projects might not ever hit the consumer market is 652 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:26,480 Speaker 1: kind of a drag. But in the process of creating 653 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:30,200 Speaker 1: these projects, Razor is pushing designers and engineers to think 654 00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:33,239 Speaker 1: beyond their normal parameters, and that can often lead to 655 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:36,760 Speaker 1: technologies we actually will see out in the wild, although 656 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:40,759 Speaker 1: they often do not resemble the audacious projects that spawned 657 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:45,600 Speaker 1: those technologies. Take Project Christine, for example. This was a 658 00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:49,600 Speaker 1: really cool idea that Razor floated in two thousand fourteen. 659 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:54,239 Speaker 1: It was a PC design with an incredibly modular approach. 660 00:39:54,719 --> 00:39:58,840 Speaker 1: So imagine a stand. This is your base computer unit, 661 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:03,359 Speaker 1: and in the stand you could plug various modules, like 662 00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:06,359 Speaker 1: a module that has a CPU in it, or one 663 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:09,560 Speaker 1: that has a specific GPU, or maybe it's a power 664 00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:13,719 Speaker 1: supply module or a memory module or its storage. You 665 00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:16,760 Speaker 1: can mix and match. You could create a customized PC 666 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,440 Speaker 1: to your liking, and you wouldn't have to worry about 667 00:40:19,719 --> 00:40:22,160 Speaker 1: stuff that otherwise is a big part of building your 668 00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:26,400 Speaker 1: own PC, like is this processor compatible with this motherboard, 669 00:40:26,719 --> 00:40:29,319 Speaker 1: all that would be taken care of for you, and 670 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,440 Speaker 1: the modular design means it would be easy to swap 671 00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:35,800 Speaker 1: out components. So let's say your graphics card is getting 672 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:38,600 Speaker 1: a little bit long in the tooth. You could unplug 673 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,440 Speaker 1: that module from your base tower and swap in a 674 00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:45,680 Speaker 1: new GPU module or maybe multiple GPUs, and each module 675 00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:48,640 Speaker 1: would have its own cooling system. According to Razor, it 676 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:52,320 Speaker 1: was active liquid cooling, and it also had noise cancelation 677 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:55,719 Speaker 1: so it would run quietly. What it did not have 678 00:40:56,080 --> 00:40:59,240 Speaker 1: is a release date. And again this isn't to really 679 00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:03,399 Speaker 1: lay fall at Razor's feet. A project as ambitious as 680 00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:07,480 Speaker 1: Christine would require buy in from more than just consumers. 681 00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:10,440 Speaker 1: Razor would have to partner with the various companies that 682 00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:14,520 Speaker 1: were making GPUs and CPUs and memory cards and power 683 00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:17,360 Speaker 1: supplies and all that other stuff. There would need to 684 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:20,879 Speaker 1: be a coordinated effort to build out modules that were 685 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:24,800 Speaker 1: compatible with the system. And you know that just didn't happen. 686 00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:28,120 Speaker 1: There's a lot of inertia to overcome in the PC 687 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:31,879 Speaker 1: space to make something like Christine a reality. I think 688 00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:35,160 Speaker 1: it was a really interesting idea, one that could be 689 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:39,319 Speaker 1: transformational if enough companies agreed to make components that would 690 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:43,360 Speaker 1: fit the modular standard. But I'm also not surprised that 691 00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:45,400 Speaker 1: there wasn't a lot of buy in on that front, 692 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:48,360 Speaker 1: because pretty much everyone wants to be the one to 693 00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:51,120 Speaker 1: define the standard rather than the one who has to 694 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:54,000 Speaker 1: conform to the standards that were made by somebody else. 695 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:58,840 Speaker 1: Another Razor project that wild crowds but did not transition 696 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:03,359 Speaker 1: to a consumer product was project Ariana, a projector. This 697 00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:06,719 Speaker 1: one was really wild. So this projector had two three 698 00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:09,839 Speaker 1: D cameras that would actually be used to scan the 699 00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:12,440 Speaker 1: room you had it in, so that way it would 700 00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:15,560 Speaker 1: create the perfect projection. And then when it was time 701 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:19,000 Speaker 1: for you, to, say, play a game, the projector would 702 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:23,720 Speaker 1: communicate with that game and effectively extend your viewing area 703 00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:27,320 Speaker 1: beyond the borders of your display. So you're still playing 704 00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:30,240 Speaker 1: your game on your computer looking at your computer screen, 705 00:42:30,719 --> 00:42:35,520 Speaker 1: but the projector extends that view beyond what you see 706 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:38,640 Speaker 1: on the screen, so you can kind of see, you know, 707 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:42,160 Speaker 1: beyond the edges of the frame. It's really an interesting notion. 708 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:46,480 Speaker 1: The projector would also create interesting lighting effects to coordinate 709 00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:49,640 Speaker 1: with the game and enhance your experience. It really did 710 00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:52,520 Speaker 1: sound super nifty, I'm sad this one never really made 711 00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:56,920 Speaker 1: it beyond the conceptual stage because it sounds truly immersive. Uh, 712 00:42:57,080 --> 00:42:59,959 Speaker 1: maybe it would also be a little on the unfair side. 713 00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:02,640 Speaker 1: I mean, if you're able to extend your view beyond 714 00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:06,120 Speaker 1: what most people can see, maybe then you could, if 715 00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:09,919 Speaker 1: you're playing a competitive game, see players before they could 716 00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:13,360 Speaker 1: put possibly see you. I guess that might be a 717 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:16,960 Speaker 1: thing that could be an issue. But how about Project Valerie. 718 00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:20,200 Speaker 1: This was a Razor concept laptop that featured not one, 719 00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:25,400 Speaker 1: not two, but three screens. The screens would sit in 720 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:28,320 Speaker 1: a stack, so you could use it as a single 721 00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:32,279 Speaker 1: screen laptop, or folding arms could extend a pair of 722 00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:35,640 Speaker 1: extra displays, one to either side of the central screen. 723 00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:39,040 Speaker 1: Razor called it a way to create surround view with 724 00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:43,920 Speaker 1: a resolution of eleven thousand, five twenty by two thousand sixty. 725 00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:47,160 Speaker 1: That's a crazy resolution. They also called it twelve K 726 00:43:47,320 --> 00:43:49,080 Speaker 1: because it would be a four K screen of four 727 00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:52,040 Speaker 1: K screen and a four K screen. You could get 728 00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:54,920 Speaker 1: a real panoramic view of a game this way, or 729 00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:57,000 Speaker 1: maybe you could use it so that you're playing a 730 00:43:57,080 --> 00:44:01,279 Speaker 1: game on one screen, you're looking at BS over at 731 00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:04,080 Speaker 1: Twitch on a second screen, and then you're monitoring chat 732 00:44:04,160 --> 00:44:07,120 Speaker 1: on your third screen, which would make this laptop the 733 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:11,840 Speaker 1: portable video game streamer rig of Dreams and wonders. But 734 00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:16,880 Speaker 1: Valerie also never came to market. There are some multi 735 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:20,040 Speaker 1: screen laptops out there these days, but they tend to 736 00:44:20,080 --> 00:44:22,920 Speaker 1: be in a very different form factor than what we 737 00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:27,320 Speaker 1: saw with the Valerie concept. For example, the Asus r 738 00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:31,560 Speaker 1: O g ZI Furus Duo fifteen, which has a main 739 00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:35,640 Speaker 1: display and then just mounted above where the keyboard is, 740 00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:39,200 Speaker 1: there's a little hinged system that tilts up a bit 741 00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:42,280 Speaker 1: where you have a touch screen display. That touch screen 742 00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:45,000 Speaker 1: is very wide, but it's also very short, so it's 743 00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:47,600 Speaker 1: not like a true it's not a second screen that 744 00:44:47,719 --> 00:44:52,000 Speaker 1: that mirrors the size of your primary screen. It's uh 745 00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:56,520 Speaker 1: an additional workspace, really a touch screen workspace. I don't 746 00:44:56,520 --> 00:44:58,640 Speaker 1: know how useful it is. I don't know how well 747 00:44:58,680 --> 00:45:01,279 Speaker 1: it works as an extension of your main screen, but 748 00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:04,200 Speaker 1: it is interesting that we're seeing some actual consumer product 749 00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:07,280 Speaker 1: versions of a laptop that has more than one screen. 750 00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:10,279 Speaker 1: It might not be the enormous beast that Valerie was, 751 00:45:10,719 --> 00:45:13,600 Speaker 1: but it's a step in that direction. And that's all 752 00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:17,719 Speaker 1: I've got for today's episode. Clearly, there are countless other 753 00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:21,360 Speaker 1: examples of products that were announced at one point but 754 00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:25,000 Speaker 1: never ever made it to the consumer market. Uh. They're 755 00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:28,080 Speaker 1: probably a lot more failures out there than successes. In fact, 756 00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:31,080 Speaker 1: I'm sure there's tons that we never heard of, and 757 00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:33,839 Speaker 1: that's just the nature of things. If you're trying something new, 758 00:45:33,960 --> 00:45:37,120 Speaker 1: it's not always going to work. But I do like 759 00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:41,239 Speaker 1: the spirit of innovation. I like the creativity. I like 760 00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:45,600 Speaker 1: the audacity of some of these projects that uh never 761 00:45:45,640 --> 00:45:48,719 Speaker 1: made it. I'm very curious what what the world would 762 00:45:48,760 --> 00:45:51,680 Speaker 1: be like if the I smell had really taken off. 763 00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:54,720 Speaker 1: I hate to think of what some of my favorite 764 00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:57,719 Speaker 1: websites would smell like. I guess I don't have to 765 00:45:57,719 --> 00:46:00,400 Speaker 1: worry about that. If you guys have to do questions 766 00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:03,200 Speaker 1: for topics I should cover in future episodes of tech Stuff, 767 00:46:03,560 --> 00:46:05,319 Speaker 1: reach out to me and let me know what you 768 00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:07,480 Speaker 1: would like me to talk about, whether it's a company, 769 00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:10,880 Speaker 1: a trend in technology, a specific tech and how it works, 770 00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:13,160 Speaker 1: or anything like that. The best way to do that 771 00:46:13,239 --> 00:46:16,000 Speaker 1: is on Twitter. The handle is tech stuff H s 772 00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:24,359 Speaker 1: W and I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech 773 00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:27,879 Speaker 1: Stuff is an i Heart Radio production. For more podcasts 774 00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:30,640 Speaker 1: from my Heart Radio visit the I heart Radio app, 775 00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:33,920 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.