{"id":394327,"date":"2025-11-21T09:25:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T09:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/394327\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T09:25:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T09:25:22","slug":"the-last-device-youll-ever-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/394327\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Device You\u2019ll Ever Need"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.<\/a><\/p>\n

The first thing that happened when I put on the glasses was that \u201cStarboy,\u201d the 2016 dance track by The Weeknd and Daft Punk, started blasting. Standing in a blue, skateshop-themed room<\/a> in New York City\u2014one of a few Meta pop-up stores across the country\u2014I stared helplessly at the employee beside me whose instructions I could no longer hear.<\/p>\n

The glasses I tried on are the tech giant\u2019s latest attempt at \u201csmart\u201d eyewear, a subcategory of the internet-enabled wearable devices that entered the mainstream more than a decade ago. Powered by AI, they are operated with a second accessory called the Neural Band, a kind of fabric controller that snapped around my wrist and sensed my movements. Flicking through a floating digital menu, I could see roughly where I was on a rudimentary map of the city; I could snap a picture of my point of view; or I could enter a kind of live-dialogue mode, in which the glasses would transcribe real-time captions from other speakers in the room. I had some success with the first two functions and little with the third, which was finicky and slow\u2014similar to how the glasses behaved during their live, onstage debut<\/a> in September (\u201cThis is, uh \u2026 it happens,\u201d said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of the glasses\u2019 failure to heed commands at the time).<\/p>\n

But the real selling point was AI\u2014embedded in the physical device is a more personalized version of Meta\u2019s proprietary chatbot. Theoretically, wearers can point to objects in their field of vision and ask the glasses for live context (although that feature seemed to be hindered by spotty Wi-Fi when I tried it). When I asked aloud how long I could reasonably keep a package of raw chicken in my refrigerator, an answer appeared on the lens\u2019 display: 1\u20132 days. True; although, why wouldn\u2019t I just look that up on my phone?<\/p>\n

The test-run gestured at something instructive about the ways we interact with our computers. As the boom in AI chatbots accelerates the shift to prompt-based computing, tech companies are racing to figure out how to give the text fields of ChatGPT and other large language models a physical shape\u2014something people can manipulate without a keyboard, mouse, or conventional screen. Meta\u2019s glasses are just one manifestation of this idea. One start-up is betting on an AI-enabled pendant necklace called the \u201cFriend\u201d; another, Sandbar, promises discretion in the form of a ring that detects even whispered commands. The pull of these concepts is that they might someday eliminate the need to type out prompts, freeing users from the thrall of screen life.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a quasi-mystical quality to this tech; the creator of Friend has likened his device to \u201ca god\u201d<\/a> (Pope Leo has warned against this kind of talk<\/a>). But the perfect incarnation of AI may not yet exist. \u201cAs great as phones and computers are, there\u2019s something new to do,\u201d OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said during a filmed conversation<\/a> with Jony Ive, who was a key designer at Apple during Steve Jobs\u2019s tenure. (OpenAI and The Atlantic have a corporate partnership.) Ive teamed up with OpenAI earlier this year to do for prompt-based computing what the iPhone did for the mobile experience, reportedly working on a \u201cpalm-sized<\/a>\u201d AI device without a screen. Whatever its shape, it has already distinguished itself from its competitors in one crucial way: It won\u2019t be wearable<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lost in all the techno-optimism around AI\u2019s physical form is whether anyone actually wants a new category of device. AI devices have been tried, and they have failed. Consider Humane, a company that raised more than $230 million to create an AI \u201cpin.\u201d It debuted last year to brutal reviews, and the company was scrapped and sold for parts less than a year later. \u201cEverything that this pin does, a modern smartphone does better and faster,\u201d the YouTuber Marques Brownlee<\/a> said. A start-up called Rabbit launched an AI handheld last year that also flopped; Tom\u2019s Guide<\/a> recently reported that some of the company\u2019s employees haven\u2019t been paid in months. So far, Meta\u2019s glasses appear to be the most successful of the new crop of physical AI products. As of February, the company had sold 2 million pairs<\/a>\u2014far fewer than the reported \u201ctens of millions<\/a>\u201d of smart watches Apple sells each year. The glasses also represent a relatively small source of income for Meta, which is now worth about $1.5 trillion.<\/p>\n

The allure of a life unchained from screens, and the growing utility of chatbots, could drive more customers toward the nascent category of AI devices. But even if more customers start snapping them up, expecting them to unseat the smartphone or the laptop anytime soon is unrealistic: We\u2019re simply too reliant on the screens we already have. There\u2019s also an embarrassment factor to these devices. Meta\u2019s chatbot is summoned by saying \u201cHey, Meta,\u201d which I found actively unpleasant to articulate in a public space. Even though the Neural Band allows for some silent control via hand gestures, speaking queries aloud is usually simpler\u2014and also somehow stranger. These devices don\u2019t come cheap, either: Humane\u2019s AI pin cost $699, plus $24 for a monthly subscription. Meta\u2019s newest glasses and the accompanying band start at $799\u2014the same starting price as a brand-new iPhone 17.<\/p>\n

Whatever comes next in the race for the ultimate AI device will have to stand on its own, outside of the established phone-laptop dyad. But so far, the fantasy of a screenless world is just that\u2014a fantasy. Without a way to persuade users to reject the screens they already have, an AI device will only add to the digital overload.<\/p>\n

After returning the glasses to Meta\u2019s staff, I took the R train back to my office. Within maybe a minute of getting on, nearly every screen in the car\u2014from the oblong strips spanning its length to the bolt-on panels above the seats\u2014flashed deep blue. I looked up; it was an ad for the glasses I\u2019d just tried on. Everyone seated beneath it was on their phone.<\/p>\n

Related:<\/b><\/p>\n

Here are three new stories from The Atlantic:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s News<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. President Donald Trump accused a group of Democratic lawmakers of sedition and said their actions were \u201cpunishable by DEATH!\u201d<\/a> after they released a video reminding troops that they should not obey illegal orders.<\/li>\n
  2. The United States labor market added a stronger-than-expected 119,000 jobs in September<\/a>, though unemployment ticked up to 4.4 percent, according to a delayed report from the Labor Department. The news leaves the Federal Reserve with an unclear read on the economy ahead of its December meeting.<\/li>\n
  3. Border Patrol is wrapping up an immigration-raid operation<\/a> in Charlotte, North Carolina, after arresting more than 250 people, according to Department of Homeland Security officials. The agency is preparing to shift next to New Orleans<\/a>, where an effort targeting Louisiana and Mississippi\u2014dubbed \u201cSwamp Sweep\u201d\u2014is expected to begin after Thanksgiving, according to people familiar with the operation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Evening Read<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"YoungJonah Rosenberg for The Atlantic<\/p>\n

    (Some) MAGA Girls Just Wanna Have Fun<\/p>\n

    By Elaine Godfrey<\/p>\n

    \n

    One night at a party in an East Village speakeasy, a pair of 20-somethings\u2014high on youth and rail liquor\u2014made their way to the bar\u2019s single-occupancy bathroom, and proceeded to go at it. I know this because as I waited outside, the exuberant young man inside began to film the encounter. The bright light of his phone had reversed the effects of the bathroom\u2019s one-way mirror to reveal a pantsless youth with a deeply unfortunate broccoli haircut, and a young woman in a make america hot again cap. When I mentioned the encounter to the event\u2019s organizer, Raquel Debono, she clapped her hands and squealed, \u201cI told you people find love at my parties!\u201d<\/p>\n

    Debono\u2019s path to party planning happened, in her telling, because she was bored. The MAGA gatherings she\u2019d attended were stuffy. So last year, she started throwing parties under the auspices of a new movement\u2014\u201cMake America Hot Again\u201d\u2014to attract fun, sexy conservatives. The kind who might enjoy, say, low taxes and public fornication.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Read the full article.<\/a><\/p>\n

    More From The Atlantic<\/b><\/p>\n

    Culture Break<\/b><\/p>\n

    \"IllustrationIllustration by Ben Kothe \/ The Atlantic<\/p>\n

    Read. <\/b>Ian Bogost on why hotel-room cancellations disappeared<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Explore. <\/b>In 2020, the professional chef Anita Lo recommended tips for your Thanksgiving meal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Play our daily crossword.<\/a><\/p>\n

    Explore all of our newsletters here.<\/a><\/p>\n

    Rafaela Jinich contributed to this newsletter.<\/p>\n

    When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":394328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[691,738,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-394327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-technology","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115586972655434855","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}