Shelly Palmer has been named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” and writes a popular daily business blog.
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A tweet stopped me mid-scroll the other day. Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, wrote, "Considering making a simple, under $50 hardware device, that will reliably answer your questions voice to voice. Just do this, but do it very well. If this post gets more than 5000 likes, will definitely make it." When it surpassed that number, he posted, "Alright. LFG!" So there you have it – Perplexity is getting into the hardware business.
Hardware is a bit of a microtrend, as all of the cool kids seem to be working on hardware projects. Drones, humanoid robots (robots of all kinds, actually), next gen XR headgear, quantum computers, chip fab… hardware is a thing, but is it for everyone? Does having a big pile of investor money lying around give you license to dabble in hardware?
The hardware business is not all sunshine and unicorns. It's more like the opening scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where we meet Indiana Jones as he is navigating a dark, dangerous labyrinth filled with the scattered remains of the intrepid souls who didn't reach the golden monkey head. He gets it! But that's when the fun really starts: arrows, collapsing floors, and that iconic boulder determined to crush him. It's a perfect metaphor for the tech hardware business (any new business, really).
Want to see a successful AI hardware project (over 130,000 units sold) that's failing huge? Look on eBay for a Rabbit R1. You can buy mine if you want; it's still in the original box on the corner of my desk. It’s an AI-powered hardware device that I enthusiastically set up, tested, and promptly re-boxed. Why? Because we already have the best available AI hardware in our pockets – it's called a smartphone.
As always your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. Just reply to this email. -s
P.S. CES® 2025 is only 41 days away. Today is the perfect day to book a private Executive Briefing and Floor Tour for your team, as well as to request your invitations to our exclusive events. Visit ces.shellypalmer.com.
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ABOUT SHELLY PALMER
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.
