Bob Wertz

The other day, I referenced the hype leading up to the launch of a device in the early 2000s that was supposed to revolutionize personal transportation, but realized no one remembered the cautionary tail. Project Ginger was the creation of legendary inventor Dean Kamen. Word had leaked out about the secret project. Tech luminaries raved about it. Venture capitalists drooled at the potential. A 2001 article from Time was actually titled “Reinventing the Wheel” and captures the hype of the moment:

In a heartbeat, hundreds of stories full of fevered theorizing gushed forth in the press. Ginger was a hydrogen-powered hovercraft. Or a magnetic antigravity device. Or, closer to the mark, a souped-up scooter. Even the reprobates at South Park got into the act, spoofing Ginger in a recent episode–the details of which, sadly, are unprintable in a family magazine.

This revolutionary device was the Segway. Spoiler alert: it did not revolutionize transportation.

The Time article clearly explains all of the issues that plagued the Segway: cost, safety, sidewalks. Then conveniently ignores those issues to embrace the hype. In 2001, Segway promised a plant would produce 40,000 Segways a month, but in reality, the company only sold 140,000 in the product’s entire lifespan. Most of those weren’t sold to consumers.

Why do I bring this up? Because Jony Ive and Sam Altman are promising an AI device that will revolutionize how we use computers. Lots of people trust Ive and his track record with Apple. And Sam Altman has steered Open AI and ChatGPT to be the current leader of the AI industry. OpenAI is pushing the hype themselves, buying ad space to sell people… something?¹ People are rushing to fill in the unspoken details with their hopes for a new device. Journalists are writing about all the things that this partnership could bring. And yet, there is nothing tangible.

I’m not buying the hype yet. Maybe this new device will be a true revolution and someday replace all of our computers. But based on rumors and Ive’s track record, it could just as easily be an expensive AI-powered necklace with lots of sensors that’s made of some special gold alloy and is voice controlled. The fact is that we don’t know any details, and I’m not even sure Ive and Altman know all the details. I believe they will release something, and when they do, we’ll see what happens.

In the meantime, beware hype without details.

Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.