Meta’s Muse Charm looks like a Tamagotchi, but it’s tapping into a much newer trend
Meta’s Muse Charm looks like a Tamagotchi, but it’s tapping into a much newer trend
Meta 的 Muse Charm 看上去像电子宠物，但它其实是在追逐一股更新的潮流
Is Meta’s just-announced Muse Charm a playful device that will make AI more approachable to everyday consumers, or will it be yet another flop in a long list of AI hardware gadgets that didn’t take off, like the Ai Pin, Rabbit, or Friend pendant? Reactions, so far, have been mixed. Meta 刚刚发布的 Muse Charm 究竟是一款能让 AI 更贴近普通消费者的趣味设备，还是会像 Ai Pin、Rabbit 或 Friend 吊坠那样，成为 AI 硬件领域又一个失败的案例？目前，外界对此反应不一。
What the Charm is, however, is on-trend. Like it or not, the form factor could potentially appeal to Gen Z consumers who, in this post-Labubu era, have already been into various dangling items from keychains and bags. It’s all part of a broader kitschy, retro-inspired shift in their approach to fashion and technology. 然而，Muse Charm 的确踩中了潮流。无论你是否喜欢，这种外形设计都有可能吸引 Z 世代消费者。在“Labubu”时代之后，他们已经热衷于在钥匙扣和包包上挂各种饰品。这反映了他们在时尚和科技观念上正经历一场更广泛的、带有复古趣味的转变。
Already, Gen Z has created a market for things that dangle, with everything from lip glosses to hand sanitizers to sunblocks to fragrances and more turned into bag charms, primarily targeted at women. Z 世代已经创造了一个“挂件市场”，从唇彩、洗手液到防晒霜、香水，各种物品都被改造成了包包挂饰，且主要针对女性群体。
Hailey Bieber’s viral Rhode lip case, which stuck the lip gloss onto a phone case, had a big influence on this idea that beauty products could also be fashion accessories, as did its other beauty-focused bag charms. (The brand saw $212 million in annual net sales from a lineup of roughly 10 products, Vogue noted last year, as the company announced its billion-dollar exit to Elf Beauty.) 海莉·比伯（Hailey Bieber）走红的 Rhode 唇釉手机壳（将唇釉直接贴在手机壳上）对这一理念产生了巨大影响，即美妆产品也可以是时尚配饰，其推出的其他美妆主题包包挂饰也是如此。（据《Vogue》去年报道，该品牌仅靠约 10 款产品就实现了 2.12 亿美元的年度净销售额，随后该公司宣布以 10 亿美元的价格被 Elf Beauty 收购。）
Then there was the Labubu craze, which saw sales of the so-ugly-it’s-cute fuzzy monster bag charm explode, growing Pop Mart’s (the Chinese retailer behind the product) revenue to $1.8 billion in 2024, a 7x jump from 2019. While demand for the Labubu itself has since faded, the concept of the decorative bag charm has not. One analyst firm estimates the global bag charm market will grow to over $1 billion by 2030. 随后是 Labubu 热潮，这款“丑萌”的毛绒怪兽挂饰销量激增，推动泡泡玛特（该产品的中国零售商）在 2024 年的营收达到 18 亿美元，较 2019 年增长了 7 倍。虽然 Labubu 本身的热度已有所减退，但装饰性包包挂饰的概念却留了下来。一家分析机构预计，到 2030 年，全球包包挂饰市场规模将超过 10 亿美元。
Today, bag charms can be characters, bedazzled beauty products, or other whimsical designs or objects, like Coach’s coveted cherry charms, a Gen Z favorite. They’ve proven popular because they’re a means of expressing your personality, just as humans have done for ages through their fashion choices, makeup, and jewelry. Similarly, Meta’s Muse is a customizable character; you design your own avatar, which makes the AI agent a reflection of you, too. 如今，包包挂饰可以是卡通形象、镶钻美妆产品，或其他奇思妙想的设计，比如深受 Z 世代喜爱的 Coach 樱桃挂饰。它们之所以受欢迎，是因为它们是表达个性的方式，正如人类长期以来通过时尚选择、妆容和珠宝来表达自我一样。同样，Meta 的 Muse 也是一个可定制的角色；你可以设计自己的虚拟形象，这使得 AI 代理也成为了你自身的一种投射。
And, as many have pointed out, Muse Charm’s form factor recalls a Tamagotchi, the pocket-sized digital virtual pet that became a major toy fad in the late 90s and again in the mid-2000s. However, the Tamagotchi is not the most current reference. It seems the Muse Charm is actually a twist on what some young people are already doing with their Apple Watch. Often meant as a way to repurpose an older device, the concept of the Apple Watch keychain or charm has been growing in popularity, fueled by TikTok videos showing different ways to use the watch when not on your wrist. 正如许多人指出的那样，Muse Charm 的外形让人想起 Tamagotchi（电子宠物），这种口袋大小的数字虚拟宠物曾在 90 年代末和 2000 年代中期风靡一时。然而，Tamagotchi 并不是最贴切的参照物。Muse Charm 实际上更像是年轻人已经在对 Apple Watch 进行的一种改造。作为一种让旧设备焕发新生的方式，Apple Watch 钥匙扣或挂饰的概念正变得越来越流行，TikTok 上展示各种非佩戴式 Apple Watch 用法的视频更是推波助澜。
On retailers like Amazon and Walmart, and marketplaces like eBay and Etsy, there are thousands of Apple Watch keychains, straps, pendants, lanyards, clips, and bag charm cases now available in nearly every style you can think of. As you might expect, these keychain watches are often being adopted by younger women as a fashion accessory first, rather than a piece of technology. 在亚马逊、沃尔玛等零售商以及 eBay、Etsy 等市场上，现在有成千上万种 Apple Watch 钥匙扣、表带、吊坠、挂绳、夹子和挂饰保护壳，几乎涵盖了你能想到的所有风格。不出所料，这些“手表挂件”通常被年轻女性首先视为时尚配饰，而非科技产品。
This all then intersects with the broader retro-tech trend, which has seen older tech like digital cameras, flip phones, iPods, CDs, cassette tapes, home phones, and wired earbuds making a quiet comeback. This vibe shift in tech comes as young people describe the addictive, algorithm-driven feeds and “soulness” nature of technology as making them feel more disconnected, which has also fed into this trend of wanting tech they can touch and feel. (One startup, Clicks, is even bringing back the physical phone keyboard in a BlackBerry-inspired device, for instance.) 这一切都与更广泛的“复古科技”潮流相交织，数码相机、翻盖手机、iPod、CD、磁带、座机和有线耳机等旧技术正在悄然回归。这种科技氛围的转变源于年轻人对算法驱动的成瘾性信息流和科技“无灵魂”本质的厌倦，他们感到与现实世界更加疏离，这也助长了他们对“可触碰、有质感”科技产品的渴望。（例如，一家名为 Clicks 的初创公司甚至正在通过一款灵感源自黑莓的设备，让物理手机键盘回归。）
For Gen Z, these physical objects help them feel more connected with the technology they’re using and offer a sense of control over a world where technology has become so deeply integrated into our lives that it no longer feels like a choice to use it. Young women, again, have been at the forefront of this trend, with some even crafting their own portable, mini computers, “cyberdecks,” which they fit inside clamshell purses or custom cases, and bedazzle with jewels, flowers, stickers, pearls, and other items to make them feel more personal. 对于 Z 世代来说，这些实体物品能让他们与所使用的技术产生更强的连接感，并在一个科技已深度融入生活、使用与否已不再是选择的世界里，提供一种掌控感。年轻女性再次走在了这一潮流的前沿，有些人甚至亲手制作便携式迷你电脑“Cyberdeck”，将其装入翻盖包或定制外壳中，并用珠宝、花朵、贴纸、珍珠等装饰，使其更具个人特色。
That brings us back to the Muse Charm. While it’s clearly designed with the tech-as-fashion-accessory trend in mind, that doesn’t mean it will be a hit. Meta has abused consumer trust over the years to such an extent that it may never fully recover. 这让我们回到 Muse Charm。虽然它显然是考虑到“科技即时尚配饰”这一趋势而设计的，但这并不意味着它一定会成功。多年来，Meta 对消费者信任的滥用程度之深，以至于它可能永远无法完全恢复。
To name just a few examples: The tech giant had to settle with the FTC over charges that it deceived consumers by making users’ private information public without their consent, and has been penalized by the FTC for numerous privacy-related violations. In 2023, the FTC charged Meta with violating a privacy order that was filed after the 2019 settlement. It’s also been repeatedly hauled before Congress over its harms to minors, has lost or settled multiple lawsuits over the same topics, and has seen various whistleblowers outing its abuses. 仅举几例：这家科技巨头曾因在未经用户同意的情况下公开其私人信息而欺骗消费者，不得不与联邦贸易委员会（FTC）达成和解，并因多次违反隐私规定而受到 FTC 的处罚。2023 年，FTC 指控 Meta 违反了 2019 年和解协议后签署的隐私令。它还因对未成年人的伤害而多次被传唤至国会，在相关议题上输掉或和解了多起诉讼，并有各种举报人揭露其滥用行为。
These careless privacy practices could ultimately see Meta lose the battle to be the consumer AI of choice… unless, of course, consumers decide that the “devil you know” is better than the one you don’t. (Especially when the latter are those warning AI could put an end to the human race.) Meta’s end game, after all, is highly-targeted, highly-personalized ads. If that’s the privacy tradeoff in gaining access to free AI — Meta said it will monetize Muse by taking a small fee from transactions — consumers could be willing. 这些粗心的隐私做法最终可能导致 Meta 在争夺“首选消费级 AI”的竞争中落败……当然，除非消费者认为“熟悉的魔鬼”总比“未知的魔鬼”好。（尤其是当后者还在警告 AI 可能终结人类时。）毕竟，Meta 的最终目标是高度定向、高度个性化的广告。如果这就是获取免费 AI 所需付出的隐私代价——Meta 表示将通过从交易中收取少量费用来使 Muse 商业化——消费者或许会愿意买单。