4 ms·

Its not that they don't make money. Its that in terms of innovation - and more specifically in hampering innovation - Microsoft no longer matters. At least we

by rjurney 17y ago

Its not that they don't make money. Its that in terms of innovation - and more specifically in hampering innovation - Microsoft no longer matters. At least we like to think so, because we can remember when they were in the way of developing most anything cool.

froo 17y ago
Microsoft has no innovation? http://www.microsoft.com/surface/ http://www.microsoft.com/surface/ http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/ http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/ http://research.microsoft.com/apps/dp/pr/projects.aspx http://research.microsoft.com/apps/dp/pr/projects.aspx (there are a few gems in there that have yet been "announced")
- rjurney 17y ago
  Microsoft does some amazing things at MS Research. They have trouble getting them into products, and they have no taste - so they can't polish them well. All their products constrain, rather than enable me.
  - froo 17y ago
    I think Microsoft has great taste... if they steal their design elements from other companies, that is :) Like Picasso said. Good artists borrow, great artists steal. The Windows 7 Beta seemed pretty good when I used it.
- access_denied 17y ago
  Projectnatal is a demo, not a project. It is overhype. Surface is innovative? How so? What can we do with Surface that is new and well, brings some kind of advancement?
  - froo 17y ago
    "What can we do with Surface that is new and well, brings some kind of advancement?" You mean the things like where you could put your credit card down on the table at a restaurant and divide up a bill between people easily, and pay, without involvement from a waiter. Or the part where you can place phones down on the surface and interact directly with them via the touch screen interface? What about object recognition that the surface does? It's not your average touchscreen. It has potential. It's just a damn shame the technology is so damn expensive to gain much traction. As for Project Natal, I can think of some very good ideas off the top of my head that it can be useful for - not just gaming. It could end up being one of the things that turns the 360 from a gaming console into a central home computing platform and communications tool for you and your family (like was alluded too in one of the advertising videos) Microsoft attempting to commoditize 3D cameras like they are could make interfaces like you see in minority report a reality much sooner than was previously thought.
    - shiranaihito 17y ago
      You mean the things like where you could put your credit card down on the table at a restaurant and divide up a bill between people easily, and pay, without involvement from a waiter. How does it do this, and when, and where? Are you sure it's not just some fiction from a demo video? Or the part where you can place phones down on the surface and interact directly with them via the touch screen interface? Because it would be easier than interacting with the phones' own touch screens? What about object recognition that the surface does? What about it? :) What is it actually capable of now? If there's no useful concrete application for that feature now, does it even matter? I've seen a "demo" video from Microsoft with graphical illustrations and animations of things that would be exciting if they were real. But before those things are actually happening, the video amounts to nothing more than just a video. I keep getting surprised by the Microsoft-Love that's present even here on HN. It should be painfully obvious to everyone, especially here, that they really don't deserve any admiration as a company. No, it doesn't matter if their R & D department is tinkering with something interesting. It's what the company does in general that matters.
      - froo 17y ago

by rjurney 17y ago

froo 17y ago

Microsoft has no innovation? http://www.microsoft.com/surface/ http://www.microsoft.com/surface/ http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/ http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/ http://research.microsoft.com/apps/dp/pr/projects.aspx http://research.microsoft.com/apps/dp/pr/projects.aspx (there are a few gems in there that have yet been "announced")

rjurney 17y ago
Microsoft does some amazing things at MS Research. They have trouble getting them into products, and they have no taste - so they can't polish them well. All their products constrain, rather than enable me.
- froo 17y ago
  I think Microsoft has great taste... if they steal their design elements from other companies, that is :) Like Picasso said. Good artists borrow, great artists steal. The Windows 7 Beta seemed pretty good when I used it.
access_denied 17y ago
Projectnatal is a demo, not a project. It is overhype. Surface is innovative? How so? What can we do with Surface that is new and well, brings some kind of advancement?
- froo 17y ago
  "What can we do with Surface that is new and well, brings some kind of advancement?" You mean the things like where you could put your credit card down on the table at a restaurant and divide up a bill between people easily, and pay, without involvement from a waiter. Or the part where you can place phones down on the surface and interact directly with them via the touch screen interface? What about object recognition that the surface does? It's not your average touchscreen. It has potential. It's just a damn shame the technology is so damn expensive to gain much traction. As for Project Natal, I can think of some very good ideas off the top of my head that it can be useful for - not just gaming. It could end up being one of the things that turns the 360 from a gaming console into a central home computing platform and communications tool for you and your family (like was alluded too in one of the advertising videos) Microsoft attempting to commoditize 3D cameras like they are could make interfaces like you see in minority report a reality much sooner than was previously thought.
  - shiranaihito 17y ago
    You mean the things like where you could put your credit card down on the table at a restaurant and divide up a bill between people easily, and pay, without involvement from a waiter. How does it do this, and when, and where? Are you sure it's not just some fiction from a demo video? Or the part where you can place phones down on the surface and interact directly with them via the touch screen interface? Because it would be easier than interacting with the phones' own touch screens? What about object recognition that the surface does? What about it? :) What is it actually capable of now? If there's no useful concrete application for that feature now, does it even matter? I've seen a "demo" video from Microsoft with graphical illustrations and animations of things that would be exciting if they were real. But before those things are actually happening, the video amounts to nothing more than just a video. I keep getting surprised by the Microsoft-Love that's present even here on HN. It should be painfully obvious to everyone, especially here, that they really don't deserve any admiration as a company. No, it doesn't matter if their R & D department is tinkering with something interesting. It's what the company does in general that matters.
    - froo 17y ago