Altman-Ive, talking gadgets and the future of smartphones

The acquisition of the startup founded by Jony Ive, the former design guru of Apple by OpenAI continues to cause discussion. More than a week after the announcement we still only have a video of Sal Altman and Jony Ive who, after working in secret for two years, discuss like two friends at a bar the future of consumer electronics and the need to "create a family of products for the age of generative intelligence". They don't say it openly but what they want to send to the attic are smartphones, mobile phones, notifications and mobile screens. "We have an opportunity to reimagine what it means to use a computer," said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The startup will create a product with a level of quality "never before seen in consumer hardware. Artificial intelligence represents such a breakthrough in terms of what people can do that it needs new factors to maximise its potential'. Now the architect of the iPhone and the inventor of ChatGpt together strike fear. Gadgets without screens moved by Ai and thus with voice have been talked about for some time. We all remember Humane's Ai Pin, the mini device with a camera that was only controlled by voice. When it was presented, it was supposed to be the smartphone-killer. Today it is an open source project and will be remembered as the first ChatGpt-enhanced wearable flop. Probably, however, the time was not yet ripe. Certainly voice will always be - more than screens - the new interface. And perhaps before new gadgets, it will be the artificial intelligence-enhanced glasses (Android XR or Meta Ray-Ban) that are born connected to smartphones that will change our habits and thus perhaps also the shape of mobile phones. Apple, which was immediately pointed out by everyone as the main victim of the Altman-Ive duo, also knows this well. If only as a matter of image, seeing the architect of the iPhone together with the ChatGpt dad must not have pleased the Cupertino managers who have been abstinent of real innovations for some years now. Fuelling the controversy in recent days has been the interview given by Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve's widow, and Jony Ive to the Financial Times where they discussed their disillusionment with current technology and their desire to do something better. They never mentioned names and surnames, they didn't lash out directly at anyone, they never got too specific, but anyone would have thought that the object of the veiled criticism was smartphones. All smartphones and screen addiction through social media. For the first time, mobile phones have different sworn enemies from those of the past. This time the finger is being pointed at those who by trade want to produce consumer electronics, and thus perhaps replace one addiction with another. Now, from here to say that the days of smartphones are numbered is a long way off. But something has perhaps already changed. And it is claimed by the manufacturers themselves. Apple's Vice President of Services, Eddy Cue has stated that users may not need an iPhone in 10 years. Maybe ten years is too long.