wolfe with an e's blog
The Rabbit R1 chronicles.
Chapter 16: Headed to NYC.
I was one of the fortunate 300 who got a ticket to the Rabbit R1 Pickup Party in NYC later this month. I could have waited a day or two to have my Rabbit delivered without having to pay for airfare, hotel, etc., but the release of the Rabbit R1 (or its offspring) may well be a piece of AI history.
I know that’s a bold statement, but three months ago when I saw the Rabbit R1 keynote, I got the distinct impression that this cute leuchtorange device with its appless interface, AI-programmed guts and the Large Action Model with ability to act on tasks for us—is about to completely change our world.
The Rabbit R1 is state-of-the-art hardware, at least for this week. At $200, it’s amazing what was done with off-the-shelf parts to build it. But with the speed of tech change, will it become obsolete next month? Probably not. Unlike a smartphone, the camera is really an input device, so there’s probably no need for more megapixels or more advanced video. The processor, RAM, memory, Bluetooth and Wifi are all up-to-date. Much of Rabbit’s AI power sits on servers in the cloud, which will be updated constantly.
However, human wants change. When Apple created the Watch, it wasn’t expected that it would become a health device, but that’s what proved its worth. We have no idea where AI will lead us as it quickly changes, but over the next year we’ll see how human need defines the Rabbit R2. Or maybe we’ll see how the Rabbit R1 redefines human need.
I have no affiliation with Rabbit Inc. I’m just an early adopter. If you want to support this journey into the Rabbit, buying me a coffee below helps keep the articles coming.
