Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft's Surface Hub Is a 'Hit', Demand Outstrips Supply (petri.com)
Microsoft said on Thursday that it has sold over 500 units of the Surface Hubs, a number that apparently "exceeded" the company's initial forecasts. In a statement to Microsoft-centric blog Petri, the company said: "Demand for Surface Hubs is very strong and exceeded initial forecasts. To date, we've shipped to over 500 customers worldwide and that number continues to grow. We are ramping up production to meet this strong demand via our partner reseller channel as soon as possible. Customers are encouraged to speak with their sales representative if interested in ordering Surface Hubs." For a refresh, the Surface Hub is a giant all-in-one Windows 10 computer which retails at a starting price point of $8,999 for the 55-inch model, and goes all the way up to $21,999 for the 84-inch model.
Come to find out everybody really wants all of this great US government spyware in their homes.
Damn.
From TFA:
To date, we’ve shipped to over 500 customers worldwide and that number continues to grow
So there were 500 customers, not 500 units they sold.
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?...
If 500 customer far excede expectation, it sounds like they expected to sell absolutely none of these things. Which I can understand why. It seems more like a concept computer than anything made for customer demands.
Of course, five hundred of either is hardly enough business volume to justify being unable to fulfill demand. The thing isn't exactly new and cutting-edge technology (unless they've found a way to make the microphones work correctly, or to clean up remote audio, or even to correct for the fact that most of humanity are not cinematographers and have no idea how to compose or light a scene for video transmission).
Teleconferencing looks great on television - but there's a reason it hasn't already caught on like wildfire. Hint: it's because on television there is at least one director and/or one cinematographer to make it look right. In reality, most people can't even frame a snapshot correctly.
This is really pathetic. A whole 500 units, and there's actually a story about how well it's selling?
Gimme a break!
It ain't actually sold until the check and credit have cleared the bank and the physical unit is past the 10 day buyers remorse period.
MSFT probably means "sold" to stores or "demo" units.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
So it's a physically larger, much more expensive piece of shit that invades your privacy and collects personal data on you, so what? How is this news? Why should we even care?
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Wtf is surface hub?
They might have sold 50,000 units. It does not matter much.
The truth is that while there is a niche for product, the fact is that people will not be able to work on one screen for a long time. What this product is really a digital whiteboard (to produce corporate cave paintings) and high quality video teleconference device. That is about it.
If they think there will be other uses, then they need to get this: they might have resolved tons of technical challenges, kudos for that, but human psychology is far far more complicated. Unlike kids playing in a sandbox, people cannot work in a close contact with each other for a long time.
And for a whiteboard and videoconferencing device this thing is way too pricey.
Kudos MS for trying something that Apple decided not to.
And that's supposedly a hit?
And my goodness it's a pain to set up. We've been working on it for a few weeks now to replace a current regular PC connected to a regular 52'' HD screen for Lync video-conferencing, and it's still not installed for general use because of things like domain-joined-but-not-really-behaving-domain-joined, problems authenticating to proxy servers due to aforementioned issue, and other strangeness. I'm a network/firewall engineer, but the server guys working on the unit are asking for my help with wireshark and packet captures from the network side, because they can't work out what the heck the thing is doing, and it's locked down like crazy so you can't install or even inspect what you can if it was a normal Windows PC. It's not a regular computing device. I would liken it more to a Windows Phone with a giant screen, given what you're allowed to do on it.
I wouldn't have recommended purchasing it partly because I don't trust the cloud (I assume it's purchased and not a demo unit), and this thing appears to be pretty cloud integrated, but highers ups see ooh shiny.
I see a wonderful new recipe for corporate success here.
1) Set the bar really low. In the basement, preferably.
2) Sell more than that very low value. Act surprised.
3) Success!
Im sure the stockholders will be impressed.
How else will MIcrosoft get your stock mergers, insider secrets and trade deals ? mining your conference calls could give them the "edge" they need, those millions of dollars executive salaries gotta come from somewhere right ?
So four of these units are currently being used by the NCIS TV show-makers.
They're so compelling. Even the smallest -- the 55-inch model -- can display up to four tweets at once.
http://www.democraticundergrou...
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
You can buy any 55" TV starting at $500 and add a small Intel NUC box for about $100. Add a Bluetooth Keyboard/Mouse combo. Done. What is the big deal here that it is costing 8000x more?
My brain processed it as 500k worldwide for some reason and I thought "damn, is that all!".
But 500 WORLDWIDE? Why is this even an article?
Problem: I have a crick in my neck from craning to see a single screen of any size in conference rooms, people turning the resolution down to 800x600 to get the fonts bigger for people in the back, and the constant projector focusing.
I want a solution using cheap (~$60) personal tablets that interconnect and share a single screen from a presentation PC. Yet I cannot find this that integrates well with Windows applications. 15 Chinese androids and one presenter laptop. Why is this so hard?
No, let's build on the broken model of everyone sharing a single huge expensive device.
One company's success is another's failure.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.