3 ms·

Microsoft's independent innovations of the last decade are the kind the average person doesn't really want or need. They're making a skype translator... fantast

by gottam 11y ago

Microsoft's independent innovations of the last decade are the kind the average person doesn't really want or need. They're making a skype translator... fantastic... but the market for that is still pretty niche. When Google released maps/street view, or apple announced the iphone, those were the kinds of things that built excitement because they were big ideas, and it was the kind of future we wanted to live in. Microsoft doesn't really do that, and from this article they still don't get it.

Udik 11y ago
And at the beginning of the multi-touch revolution, while Apple was releasing the iPhone, Microsoft was still busy developing Surface (now PixelSense) - an 80kg, 50x50cm coffee table cum multitouch screen. Really. So I agree with you, it seems that impressive products of Microsoft research look like proofs of concept rather then viable mass products.
- krylon 11y ago
  > it seems that impressive products of Microsoft research look like proofs of concept rather then viable mass products. Isn't that kind of the point of having a research division? Let the research people go crazy with new ideas, then sift through them and figure out what to make of that, product-wise? It's not like MS Research hasn't delivered some cool stuff, but Microsoft was either not capable or not interested in turning that stuff into products. At least that is the impression I get.
  - gottam 11y ago
    The biggest thing I can think of that MS research delivered in the last few years is the kinect. They hinged a lot upon that being the next thing in gaming, but what is it now really? Their competitors aren't exactly in a rush to copy it... because once again, its a gimmick for a niche market. Now just look at VR on the other hand... there's many big companies investing in that and there's a lot of hype around it. Heck even Facebook is on board and Microsoft is nowhere to be seen. There's yet another technological revolution that they're missing out on.
    - WorldMaker 11y ago
      The connective fabric is that Microsoft has always been investing in VR, or at least AR/Holograms: the Surface Table/PixelSense was a step towards physically touching digital spaces, the Kinect was a step towards physically touching digital spaces, the HoloLens will be a step towards physically touching digital spaces. All of those steps have learned from the past steps and build on sensors and software built for the previous step. (Crudely, the Kinect moved the table's sensors into a platform that could be attached to an Xbox and the HoloLens is now strapping those sensors to your face.) I don't think that Microsoft is missing out on the VR revolution: I think that all this time Microsoft has been trying to baby step/bootstrap their way towards some very cool things. I think it's useful to take a step back and appreciate the incremental/evolutionary approach Microsoft has been taking here. I still think it's kind of brilliant that MS/MSR was able to use gaming to commoditize the Kinect (what was a lab's worth of sensors is now available in every Wal-Mart for a reasonable cost).
      - Seventhson74 11y ago
        Is anyone here aware of Hololens? I am not understanding why people are claiming ms is missing out on the vr revolution, unless you consider AR to be so wildly different that it doesn't qualify as similar?
mac01021 11y ago
I'm not sure "niche" is a good characterization of the skype translator (assuming the quality is high enough to be more than a novelty toy). Such a tool might revolutionize international, distributed workforces. With a sufficiently good translator, an engineering firm in the US might quintuple the set of people in the world who are suitable to work for them. Or maybe not. I'm no futurologist.

by gottam 11y ago

Udik 11y ago

And at the beginning of the multi-touch revolution, while Apple was releasing the iPhone, Microsoft was still busy developing Surface (now PixelSense) - an 80kg, 50x50cm coffee table cum multitouch screen. Really. So I agree with you, it seems that impressive products of Microsoft research look like proofs of concept rather then viable mass products.

krylon 11y ago
> it seems that impressive products of Microsoft research look like proofs of concept rather then viable mass products. Isn't that kind of the point of having a research division? Let the research people go crazy with new ideas, then sift through them and figure out what to make of that, product-wise? It's not like MS Research hasn't delivered some cool stuff, but Microsoft was either not capable or not interested in turning that stuff into products. At least that is the impression I get.
- gottam 11y ago
  The biggest thing I can think of that MS research delivered in the last few years is the kinect. They hinged a lot upon that being the next thing in gaming, but what is it now really? Their competitors aren't exactly in a rush to copy it... because once again, its a gimmick for a niche market. Now just look at VR on the other hand... there's many big companies investing in that and there's a lot of hype around it. Heck even Facebook is on board and Microsoft is nowhere to be seen. There's yet another technological revolution that they're missing out on.
  - WorldMaker 11y ago
    The connective fabric is that Microsoft has always been investing in VR, or at least AR/Holograms: the Surface Table/PixelSense was a step towards physically touching digital spaces, the Kinect was a step towards physically touching digital spaces, the HoloLens will be a step towards physically touching digital spaces. All of those steps have learned from the past steps and build on sensors and software built for the previous step. (Crudely, the Kinect moved the table's sensors into a platform that could be attached to an Xbox and the HoloLens is now strapping those sensors to your face.) I don't think that Microsoft is missing out on the VR revolution: I think that all this time Microsoft has been trying to baby step/bootstrap their way towards some very cool things. I think it's useful to take a step back and appreciate the incremental/evolutionary approach Microsoft has been taking here. I still think it's kind of brilliant that MS/MSR was able to use gaming to commoditize the Kinect (what was a lab's worth of sensors is now available in every Wal-Mart for a reasonable cost).
    - Seventhson74 11y ago
      Is anyone here aware of Hololens? I am not understanding why people are claiming ms is missing out on the vr revolution, unless you consider AR to be so wildly different that it doesn't qualify as similar?

mac01021 11y ago

I'm not sure "niche" is a good characterization of the skype translator (assuming the quality is high enough to be more than a novelty toy). Such a tool might revolutionize international, distributed workforces. With a sufficiently good translator, an engineering firm in the US might quintuple the set of people in the world who are suitable to work for them. Or maybe not. I'm no futurologist.