Iterate Weekly - Issue 93
This week we're looking at HTC's new VR headset, AI book narration, Wink Motors NEVs, Flying taxis, and EconTalk!
Welcome to issue 93 of Iterate Weekly!
Just a reminder that you can always reply to this email or leave a comment on the web version. I read all of them, and I appreciate the feedback, questions, and insights from all of you.
Let’s jump into this week’s stories.
🤖 Tech
New HTC VR Headset
CES (The Consumer Electronics Show) is now in the books! I’ve been to CES several times and it really is quite the spectacle. I thought about devoting an entire issue to all the CES announcements, but to be honest it didn’t feel worth it.
A majority of the CES demos never pan out as actual products. Or maybe they finally come to market two years from now when they’ve been mostly forgotten. Having said all that, I did want to highlight once announcement from CES. After just last week compaining about there not being enough competition in the VR headset market, HTC is launching a new product to compete with Meta.
It’s called the HTC Vive XR Elite (it just rolls off the tongue doesn’t it?)
Product name aside, this is a pretty big deal in my humble opinion. HTC has been making VR and AR headsets for years but still struggling to gain a foothold in the mainstream consumer market. They know that a headset from Apple is likely coming as soon as WWDC this spring. They also know that Meta is very likely to announce a successor to its popular Quest 2 this year. If HTC is going to survive in this game, the Vive XR Elite better be damn good.
And it actually looks really promising! It has the ability to convert from a clunky headset to a sleek pair of steampunk-inspired glasses. It actually looks like it might be able to do augmented and virtual reality equally well. The price tag isn’t cheap at $1,099 but it’s also not super prohibitively expensive as previous HTC products have been.
Maybe with a few discounts getting this under $1,000 it can give the Meta headsets a run for their money. And we already are hearing rumors that Apple’s headset is going to cost somewhere between $2,000-$3,000 where this will feel like a relative bargain.
Back in the day I was a fan of HTC’s phones. Sadly, they had to shut down their phone division when it couldn’t compete with Apple and Samsung. I’m just hoping that HTC has a winner on their hands here. Otherwise they are going to lose a new battle in the VR world to Meta and Apple again. Competition in the smart phone space and VR space is a good thing! Let’s see if HTC can pull it off.
Will an HTC VR headset interest you at any price?
🎓 Education/Productivity
AI Book Narration
If 2022 wasn’t already the year of Artificial Intelligence, 2023 certainly could be. AI seems to be creeping into every aspect of our lives these days.
Apple is launching AI-powered book narrations.
Yep, your favorite audiobook may not be read to you by a real human anymore. It could just be a digital intelligence system telling you your bedtime story.
I think we all can agree that the narrator really makes or breaks an audiobook experience. I love when they are narrated by celebrities or the authors themselves. Sometimes there is just a voice that rubs me the wrong way that makes it hard to get through. Could this be even more of a problem with an AI narrator who isn’t fully aware of the context around what they’re reading?
Apple is positioning this as a useful function for smaller authors who don’t have the ability to hire a fancy narrator or read the book for themselves. It could indeed prove to be a very cost-effective solution. And this will only be available on a select few Apple Books titles to start. And the narrator will probably be credited on these titles as wait for it…Apple Books.
But where things get a little creepy is the fact that Apple is creating names for the different voices generated by the AI.
Currently, Apple offers four voices under soprano and baritone categories: Madison and Jackson (romance and fiction); Helena and Mitchell (self-development and nonfiction). The company said that these voices are trained in specific genres, but Apple didn’t specify what training data it is using to tune them.
Hmm, will Jackson be my favorite narrator or am I more of a Helena fan? You see how this could be a slippery slope? From a marketing perspective, I can understand needing to differentiate the different voices, but the names throw me off.
Are we entering a world where we don’t know if our audiobook narrators are human or not? Does it even matter?
Do you seen any other potential issues with AI narrators?
♻️ Health & Environment
Do Americans have an appetite for small, slow cars?
Maybe you’ve been following my quest for the ultimate sustainable futuristic vehicle. The lines are blurring between cars, motorcycles, EVs, e-bikes, and maybe a new acronym, NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicles).
Yes, I’ve already put down a (refundable) deposit for the Nimbus. But that doesn’t mean I can’t keep my options open.
I’m very intrigued by a new line of vehicles from a company called Wink Motors.
Wink is a New York-based company that is attempting to get Americans excited for tiny electric cars that can’t go faster than 25mph.
That may sound ridiculous, and for many Americans it may be. But their line of NEVs are pretty innovative and affordable. Note that there is some debate on how to define a neighborhood electric vehicle, for our purposes, let’s say a vehicle that goes no faster than 30mph and is not freeway legal.
There are 4 models to choose from. I’ll give a quick rundown
Sprout - $8895 The entry model. It has two doors and the smallest battery of the bunch. I actually don’t mind the clown car/golf cart aesthetic. It’s not trying to be something that it’s not. It fits four (cozy) passengers!
Sprout Solar - $9995 This is identical to the Sprout except it has a huge solar panel on the top. Theoretically, you would never need to charge the battery if you live somewhere that gets enough sunlight. Solar charging is a great feature, but I wish they could have made the panels look a little less ridiculous on the roof
Mark 1 - $10,995 - The Mark 1 has a slightly different layout than the Sprout. It’s still rocking two doors but does have a bit more room in the caboose with the hatch back door. It looks more like a Smartcar in my opinion. The lines are more like a car and less like a golf cart which could be good or bad depending on yor
Mark 2 Solar - $11,995 - This is the top-of-the-line model! You’re gettin four doors here plus the hatch back. And as you might guess, there is a solar panel on the roof once more. But this one looks much more svelte than what they threw on top of the Sprout Solar. It would probably be the model that I would go for if I did buy a Wink.
Keep in mind that all models are street legal on roads with a posted speed limit of 35mph or less in the US (note that there are a few states that don’t allow them all). They all have standard things like AC, heat, remote locks, entertainment system, and backup cameras. They actually look pretty comfortable to drive with just enough cargo capacity for those small trips to the store, etc.
But yeah, that speed limit makes them tough to recommend outside of dense urban areas or retirement communities.
Is there any world where you’d purchase a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle with these limitations?
🛍 Grab Bag
The Flying Taxi is (almost) Here!
I know, we’ve been hoping for flying cars forever. Are we really getting any closer to making this dream a reality?
Yes! Archer Aviation recently gave an update on their squad of flying taxis, and we have a real launch date and launch city!
Archer is getting some investment help from Stellantis (the company that owns Jeep & Chrysler and knows a bit about finding mass adoption in transportation). This funding will help them ramp up production in a new factory in Covington, Georgia.
The main product is called “Midnight.” It’s an aircraft that can seat four passengers plus the pilot. It’s meant for short hops around major metropolitan areas where they’ll typically be bypassing gridlocked traffic. The first route will be between Newark Airport and Manhattan. It’s a route I’ve done many times via public transportation.
The jaunt above New York should take less than 20 minutes. And the Midnight will need just ten minutes to recharge for its next excursion.
I’m looking forward to seeing this technology get more prevalent in other cities in the coming years. A viable airborne option to avoid LA or Bay Area traffic could be huge.
Are you interested in taking a flying taxi to avoid automobile traffic? Is there a price point that makes it worth it?
💬 Quote of the Week
"Celebrate what you want to see more of."
-Tom Peters
🎧Content Recommendation
EconTalk
Any podcast with the subtitle “Conversations for the Curious” seems like it would be a perfect recommendation for the Iterate audience doesn’t it?
I’ve been listening to the wonderful “EconTalk” podcast hosted by Russ Roberts for a long time. I’m not exactly sure how it got on my radar. I don’t always listen to every episode as soon as it posts, but a majority of the conversations are very evergreen.
The recent conversation with Hannah Ritchie about eating local was particularly thought-provoking. I’ve been guilty of assuming that fruit coming from a farm within a short drive of my house is always better for the environment than imported produce. But it turns out that isn’t always the case.
It’s just one example of a topic that deserves a deeper look and EconTalk gets some of the biggest names in their field to break things down. If you do consider yourself to be a curious person who enjoys deep conversations, you have to check out EconTalk.
POLL
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
P.S. - Hey, it’s the new year! Could you use some help reviewing what worked for you in 2022 and what could be better for 2023? Need some help building positive habits or ditching negative ones? Iterating on a new business idea and need some guidance? Or maybe you just want to say hello and pick my brain for a bit, that’s fine too! If you’d like to chat, feel free to book some time with me here!