Microsoft Cranks Up The HoloLens Hype

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I don't know about you but, even if this thing only does half of what it promises, I'm pretty excited about Microsoft's HoloLens.

Microsoft is allowing some employees to post short home videos with the #MadeWithHoloLens hashtag to show off more ideas about how the coming augmented-reality technology could be used. The new videos began showing up on Twitter over the past couple of days.
 
I wish I had the $3k to drop on a dev kit.

I am disappointed that I wasn't able to attend any of the demos that they had going around on a tour of the US.
 
ManofGod said:
Yet, the Surface Pro line is extremely successful. ;) Not everyone will want to be sitting in front of a keyboard and mouse in 2050. :D
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It's difficult for some to except that sometimes Microsoft can do something cool.
 
NickJames said:
Hmm yes, the surface as an incredibly successful product so I guess Hololens will be as well? Is that what you're saying?
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Surface is a modest success if you discount the $900 million write off of unsold inventory of 1st gen Surface and Surface RT tablets, associated wasted advertising rumored to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars from that disastrous launch, cancellation of the volume product line (Surface RT) and that it hasn't added a penny to MS's bottom line overall. Yeah, I see the success there.

To break it down, as one year ago, MS accumulated $2 billion in losses on Surface tablets (excluding advertising and R&D). Surface has been profitable for the last 4 quarters (~$200 million gross profit average from Surface each quarter, again excluding advertising and R&D), and is a long way off from covering that $2 billion in losses and write-offs. If Surface maintains its current "success", it should break even (net, including R&D and advertising) in about 10 more years.

What's hilarious about this "devices and surfaces" strategy that led to the Surface and Windows 8 strategy is that it's been helping kill off the PC consumer market by legitimizing tablets as an alternative to traditional PCs. MS thought it had so much control over that market that this could be an easy, but expensive pivot. Instead, MS failed spectacularly and tries to foist a poor mobile OS/poor desktop OS on a core market (business) that doesn't want it and failed with its entire mobile strategy, leading to another $7+ billion write-off. AMD is probably relieved now because the biggest tech boondoggle in the past decade is no longer the ATi purchase.
 
pxc said:
Surface is a modest success if you discount the $900 million write off of unsold inventory of 1st gen Surface and Surface RT tablets, associated wasted advertising rumored to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars from that disastrous launch, cancellation of the volume product line (Surface RT) and that it hasn't added a penny to MS's bottom line overall. Yeah, I see the success there.
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That write down was for Surface RT only. The Surface line really isn't big money maker but in three years the Surface line has gone from "so what" to now everyone copying it. No one else is pushing mobile x86 design harder right now than Microsoft with the Surface line.

pxc said:
What's hilarious about this "devices and surfaces" strategy that led to the Surface and Windows 8 strategy is that it's been helping kill off the PC consumer market by legitimizing tablets as an alternative to traditional PCs. MS thought it had so much control over that market that this could be an easy, but expensive pivot.
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Not really sure it this adds up. The PC market is simply mature and it's harder to sell new PCs. Look at the collapse of the tablet market. Which ironically is growing for Windows faster than iOS and Android. Yes Microsoft has made plenty of mistakes, but they were not wrong in the idea of trying to make Windows work on more devices beyond conventional desktops and laptops.

pxc said:
Instead, MS failed spectacularly and tries to foist a poor mobile OS/poor desktop OS on a core market (business) that doesn't want it and failed with its entire mobile strategy, leading to another $7+ billion write-off. AMD is probably relieved now because the biggest tech boondoggle in the past decade is no longer the ATi purchase.
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Something tells me that AMD would love to trade places with Microsoft.
 
pxc said:
Surface is a modest success if you discount the $900 million write off of unsold inventory of 1st gen Surface and Surface RT tablets, associated wasted advertising rumored to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars from that disastrous launch, cancellation of the volume product line (Surface RT) and that it hasn't added a penny to MS's bottom line overall. Yeah, I see the success there.

-snip-.
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There is so much wrong here I don't even know where to begin so I wont.
 
NickJames said:
There is so much wrong here I don't even know where to begin so I wont.
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Well for one the volume line, i.e. not as expensive line, didn't really get canceled. It was replaced by full x86 devices that did everything Surface RT did and more with Atom based Surfaces.

But sure, Surface RT/Windows RT was a mistake but I think it was also a hedge. Low power Atoms three years ago weren't nearly as good as they are now. And they still kind of lag behind the best ARM designs especially in GPU performance.
 
My only interest in Win 10 was this. Wont switch till this feature is activated and working.
 
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