Doppler Labs unveiled its Here earbud line in 2015 with dreams of being at the vanguard of smart audio: you could control how much you heard of the outside world, and there were plans for translation and other voice-guided features. Unfortunately, that vision of the future isn't coming to pass. Doppler is shutting down after struggling to raise funds for its next project (an "alternative to traditional hearing aids") and otherwise keep the lights on. Support will keep running until December 1st, and the company will release a rough version of its next-generation Here One iOS app as a going-away present, but there won't be more than that.

But it's not that simple. At one point during our conversations, I ask Kraft if he thinks that Doppler could have succeeded, if it had done everything right. No delays, no product issues, everything out as promised. He thinks about it for a long time, then answers simply: "No."

WHEN YOU GET right down to it, Kraft says he feels he’s only made one real mistake. "We f*****g started a hardware business! There's nothing else to talk about. We shouldn't have done that."