71–80 of 161 posts
I assure you that this is not a joke. The best 'self-contained' video conference machine I've used in the last year is: 1. $400 less up front than the Chromebox 2. Has an annual service fee $200 less than the Chromebox 3. Has a camera with awesome built in face detection (if one person is in the room it centers on their face, if three people are in it automatically expands to fit them all in, if you wander around the…
For example, someone will change the Mac's sound IO for whatever reason, then the Hangout audio IO will change and someone else won't realize this (e.g. sound comes out of the Mini speaker in the closet, instead of the speakerphone). So a few mins at the start of every few meetings is spent debugging these things.
The holy grail everyone wants is, "walk into the room, and it just does the right thing." This looks like a step in that direction from our current setup.
It's only mentioned briefly in the blog post, but one of the biggest wins with this system (and the aspect that I absolutely love when using it internally at Google) is the simplicity of screen sharing into a meeting. Anyone who wants to present can simply join the hangout from their laptop and then share their screen. Not only does it mean you don't have to fuss with cables/adapters (which can also break/wear out),…
See, that sounds awesome. However, my company uses Google Hangouts exclusively for our weekly business meeting (owing to everyone being remote), but we can't afford the price tag of the Chromebox. If there was a cheaper (order of magnitude cheaper) version, we'd be interested.
It's only mentioned briefly in the blog post, but one of the biggest wins with this system (and the aspect that I absolutely love when using it internally at Google) is the simplicity of screen sharing into a meeting. Anyone who wants to present can simply join the hangout from their laptop and then share their screen. Not only does it mean you don't have to fuss with cables/adapters (which can also break/wear out),…
See, that sounds awesome. However, my company uses Google Hangouts exclusively for our weekly business meeting (owing to everyone being remote), but we can't afford the price tag of the Chromebox. If there was a cheaper (order of magnitude cheaper) version, we'd be interested.
So regular computers just can't cut the mustard at streaming video? I don't see the value in a custom hardware product for this and I can't quite justify the price tag. It's not often that Google creates a product where you say to yourself "Oh, I guess this just wasn't created for me" but I think this is one of those rare occasions. Disclaimer: I'm not a megacorp with millions to spend.
And then the guy forgot his power cord, and can't project for the whole meeting.
And then the other guy forgot his Mac's VGA converter.
And then some other guy has a Mac VGA converter, but it's the old one, not the new one.
And then the guy's Windows box for some reason will not show video on the second monitor.
And the file he needed was on his desktop, not his laptop, and does anyone have a USB key?
And now Windows is rebooting and you can't turn off the power, because it's installing updates.
I think a permanent ChromeOS-based computer plugged in to the projector makes a TON of sense. I've also drunk the Google Docs kool-aid, so YMMV.
EDIT: Oh, and then because the projector was sharing his desktop, we get to see a ton of instant messages. Some of them from his wife. If instead you were doing a Hangout on a collaborative Google Doc, you wouldn't see that.
I assure you that this is not a joke. The best 'self-contained' video conference machine I've used in the last year is: 1. $400 less up front than the Chromebox 2. Has an annual service fee $200 less than the Chromebox 3. Has a camera with awesome built in face detection (if one person is in the room it centers on their face, if three people are in it automatically expands to fit them all in, if you wander around the…
Edit: HN discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7192940
It's only mentioned briefly in the blog post, but one of the biggest wins with this system (and the aspect that I absolutely love when using it internally at Google) is the simplicity of screen sharing into a meeting. Anyone who wants to present can simply join the hangout from their laptop and then share their screen. Not only does it mean you don't have to fuss with cables/adapters (which can also break/wear out),…
See, that sounds awesome. However, my company uses Google Hangouts exclusively for our weekly business meeting (owing to everyone being remote), but we can't afford the price tag of the Chromebox. If there was a cheaper (order of magnitude cheaper) version, we'd be interested.
So even if you can't afford it, many, many more people will be able to afford video conferencing with a price less than 10% that of standard solutions.
So regular computers just can't cut the mustard at streaming video? I don't see the value in a custom hardware product for this and I can't quite justify the price tag. It's not often that Google creates a product where you say to yourself "Oh, I guess this just wasn't created for me" but I think this is one of those rare occasions. Disclaimer: I'm not a megacorp with millions to spend.