If I lived in the states I would buy one for my kids in a heartbeat. The newton game looks like something even I would enjoy! Great job guys!
Just ordered one for Spain. They do ship internationally.
Osmo
31–40 of 111 posts
Re: Osmo
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
This product definitely relies on the video to convey it's magic. If you don't watch the video, you won't get it.
I don't watch videos unless I'm first convinced by the text that they're worth watching. I doubt I'm alone in this. Why is it so hard to put one or two sentences that just tell me what you're talking about?
mikeash, you are not alone. If text alone doesn't quickly and adequately convey what the product is or at least seriously pique my interest then I'm not going to spend time watching any videos.
Re: Osmo
#33That looks awesome. I'm considering ordering one for the kids. This paragraph is pretty hilarious though: "Osmo is crafted for kid‑durability and always ready to go: no batteries, or Wi-Fi required." Well, yeah.. Except for the actual iPad.
Had you read the next sentence, you may not be confused.
"Osmo is crafted for kid‑durability and always ready to go: no batteries, electronics, or Wi‑Fi required. Works with the latest iPads including the iPad 2 and iPad Mini."
Re: Osmo
#34I don't understand all the hate in this thread. This is a clever and creative use of technology that combines a favorite toy (iPad) with the one thing it lacks: physical interaction with real world objects. From what I understand (I'm a new dad so I'm still reading and learning), this sort of thing is very important for a developing mind.
I'm with you. People citing their absence of research and their certainty that this will be discarded in a day is amusing. What those academic papers lack is an actual product and customers deciding to buy and use that product of their own free will. When someone releases an app to "connect people" or make some day-to-day taks easier, nobody seems to want academic papers to back their claims. I also feel like it goes without saying that this will most likely be discarded in a day but so will 99% of the products we build as startups. That's the great thing about today's environment. We get to experiment in the real world with real people and real products! Enjoy it while it lasts is my suggestion.
Re: Osmo
#35OK, seriously, why is it so hard for companies to just tell me what their product is? I guess it's some sort of augmented reality thing? With a clip-on mirror? (???) And a standard Tangram game? "For the first time, fun knows no limits." Did somebody redesign zombo.com for the 21st century and try to attach a product to it? There are so many beautiful product pages out there which completely fail at the basic task of…
> There are so many beautiful product pages out there which completely fail at the basic task of telling people what they're selling. It's baffling.
Its not at all baffling. Selling product is about creating feelings of need for the product, not creating an accurate rational understanding of what the product does. There's a few markets (like marketing development tools to developers -- but, notably, not marketing developing tools to non-developer executives) where those two distinct issues happen to be somewhat (though not perfectly) aligned, but quite often they are unrelated or even opposed.
Video, as a medium, is very good at conveying desired emotional messages, and poor for conveying rational understanding (this is why, for decades, it has been observed that, that is, all other things being equal, watching more TV news makes you understand current events less, unlike consuming news in print media; it is also why video is a prime medium for advertisement.)
Re: Osmo
#36I love this so much. But, when I step back and look at what you're getting for $58, I'm wondering why I can't build one myself. It looks like I'll need an iPad stand, a small mirror, and a fisheye lens.
Then, I'll just use the same apps as the other Osmo users.
Re: Osmo
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
This product definitely relies on the video to convey it's magic. If you don't watch the video, you won't get it.
I don't watch videos unless I'm first convinced by the text that they're worth watching. I doubt I'm alone in this. Why is it so hard to put one or two sentences that just tell me what you're talking about?
Are you guys serious? The giant picture of the child's hand on the puzzle and a picture of that same puzzle on the ipad didn't give you a clue??? I'm sure other people have trouble drawing meaning from images but I believe it is a small percentage.
Re: Osmo
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
This product definitely relies on the video to convey it's magic. If you don't watch the video, you won't get it.
I don't watch videos unless I'm first convinced by the text that they're worth watching. I doubt I'm alone in this. Why is it so hard to put one or two sentences that just tell me what you're talking about?
That puts you in the vast minority of web users (I'm with you, fwiw). Given that, I wouldn't have any expectations that sites are going to tailor their experience to people like us. Video is used for these things because video works, and repeating in text what you showed in the video is repetitive for people who do watch the video.
Re: Osmo
#39Great product (at least from an ingenuity point of view; would be interesting to see how kids react to it)
Side question: What is this style of info presentation called? Basically, a full-page-width webpage, with very sparse information that slowly shows up as you scroll down. I'm not too fond of it, but I see it a lot lately, so I assume it has been shown to lead to higher conversion rates. Does this presentation style have a name?
Re: Osmo
#40Did anyone else get excited expecting something related to this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Osmo_and_the_Worlds_Beyo...
A web-based version of Cosmic Osmo would have been pretty cool. Alas!