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Microsoft’s Surface Hub is now apparently a billion-dollar business

arstechnica.com

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Re: Microsoft’s Surface Hub is now apparently a billion-dollar business

#41

Post by cptskippy »

paulcole wrote: post #32
hodder wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rapid depreciation isn't necessarily a bad thing for business. iPhones rapidly depreciate, and iPhones are pretty much the biggest business on earth.

> iPhones rapidly depreciate I've never heard this before-- and in fact most people seem to say the opposite. Just looked on eBay and according to recent sold listings, as of the past few days a 5 could easily bring $100-150 depending on configuration. That's a 4+ year old phone.

The $100 4+ year old phones cost considerably more than $100 new 4+ years ago.

Re: Microsoft’s Surface Hub is now apparently a billion-dollar business

#43

Post by gchadwick »

eitally wrote: post #35
gchadwick wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if the car manufacturer wants them for show rooms? I could imagine a surface hub could make a very fancy virtual catalogue for going through the manufacturers full range of models, trim levels and options for instance. Maybe something a higher-end brand would be interested in (after all such dealerships often abound with fancy furniture for customers)?

But you could do this much cheaper with a cheap Windows or ChromeOS device connected to a touch display. Paying $8000+ would be completely unreasonable.

They could also get cheap furniture but appear to splash out on fancy stuff. The feeling of wealth and technology is important to high-end car brands.

I suspect a fully-fledged surface will seem a lot more fluid and interesting than a PC with touch display. Think Android 2.3 vs latest iOS (or indeed vs iOS of the android 2.3 era).

Re: Microsoft’s Surface Hub is now apparently a billion-dollar business

#44

Post by lucozade »

loudmax wrote: post #11
zitterbewegung wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Integration with Microsoft services is probably a good selling point .

Also known as 'lock-in' in some contexts.

> Also known as 'lock-in'

It does increase lock-in of course. I would argue that so many companies are already heavily invested in M$ that this is unlikely to affect relative lock-in hugely.

To put it another way, if I'm already in prison and someone buys me a comfy chair, I'm likely to appreciate it.

Re: Microsoft’s Surface Hub is now apparently a billion-dollar business

#46

Post by Someone1234 »

jmisavage wrote: post #6

Really surprised by the specs and cost of this thing compared to what's out there. Might be the reason Google is making their Jamboard.

People aren't buying specs, they're buying an integrated experience. You can definitely reproduce the spec sheet for less money, but you cannot trivially reproduce the HUI or the research that went into it. It is the interface which is the USP of this product, not the hardware.

The Jamboard may be superior but the Jamboard doesn't exist as an actual product. We have no final demos, no release date (except "2017"), no specs, and no prices. When the Jamboard ships, only then can we draw decent comparisons.

Re: Microsoft’s Surface Hub is now apparently a billion-dollar business

#49

Post by xemoka »

protomyth wrote: post #45

Considering how many "smart boards" our little community college buys, if it works at all well, I can see how it would be a big seller in the category.

Uhg, those "smart boards" are terrible. I'm trying to get ours to give up and just buy TVs and projectors. It's amazing what a company can achieve by focusing on education and claiming to be tailor-fit.

Re: Microsoft’s Surface Hub is now apparently a billion-dollar business

#50

Post by digi_owl »

gressquel wrote: post #42

I recently changed job. When I was at the interview for the new job (gonna start there in january) they had surface hubs on all meeting rooms. And this is in Norway so the reach is great!

Well Microsoft's market penetration in Norway is massive. To the point that if you see someone with a Mac you can basically claim him to work in media production and be right 99,9% of the time.
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