5 ms·

I don't get why this is so expensive. What's the $250 a year get me? I'm used to Chromeboxes costing about $300, and web cams cost about $100 for an awesome o

I don't get why this is so expensive. What's the $250 a year get me? I'm used to Chromeboxes costing about $300, and web cams cost about $100 for an awesome one. So, $400 makes sense to me...?

bryanlarsen 13y ago
The competition for this product (Cisco, Magor, etc) can easily run into 6 figures. Think of it as Google charging $500 for the software & configuration in addition to the $250/year. Would you rather they made their money by showing ads during your conference?
- incision 13y ago
  Precisely. $250/yr. isn't even pocket change - it's lint relative to the price of a Tandberg set up.
aiiane 13y ago
The $250/year is for support and maintenance.
9to5Seth 13y ago
Let's go shopping, shall we? I recognize that Camera as a Logitech ($90) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATTIPZO?tag=thepartim-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B00ATTIPZO&adid=1NNSTPRYJANG77ZD3DP9& https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATTIPZO?tag=thepartim-20&camp=0... and that mic is a Jabra Speak 410 ($85) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ELA7TA?ie=UTF8&camp=213733&creative=393185&creativeASIN=B004ELA7TA&linkCode=shr&tag=thepartim-20 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ELA7TA?ie=UTF8&camp=213... And that remote looks like the one that comes with a Google TV ($40). We know the ASUS Box starts at under $200. I'll cut you a deal and sell it to you for $500?
- telcodud 13y ago
  Not the Asus Chromebox that uses Intel Core i7.
  - nly 13y ago
    I can't fathom why this thing even needs such a high power CPU. Presumably it's running Android, so why not go with ARM + a nice video coprocessor to handle video?
- sandyarmstrong 13y ago
  The i7 version will be more than $200, too.
nairteashop 13y ago
I agree. I don't get what "support and maintenance" means. I currently have a set-top box (Apple TV), webcam, HD camera and speakers, and don't pay a yearly "maintenance" for any of them. Why would running a teleconferencing software on such a setup cost $250/year? The only motivation I can see is: "well the competition charges a hefty recurring fee, so why shouldn't we", but then the competition isn't doing all that well for this reason. I see a lot of resemblance to Cisco's "Umi" product, which had a $25/mo fee as well, and was a total flop.
- aiiane 13y ago
  You don't pay a yearly maintenance for any of them because if they break, you're going to have to fix them yourself. Most companies prefer to actually have a support plan, because if they don't, the alternative is to pay their own people to fix them, and it's usually cheaper to not pay someone full-time to have expertise in that area. This is a business-focused product offering.
  - nairteashop 13y ago
    We had hundreds of expensive Macs at my last gig. Guess how many of those we bought AppleCare for? Zero. This was also true of pretty much every piece of electronic equipment we owned. Note that this isn't very unusual either at most companies. Given the low failure rate of most electronics, it is simply cheaper for the business/IT team to buy a replacement Mac / router / whatever than to pay any kind of yearly maintenance fee, which is always designed to make more money for the vendor. $250/year for a $999 piece of equipment is not a good deal. If it were an option, like AppleCare, most would advise you to not take it.
    - aiiane 13y ago
      It's not just hardware support, though - it's service support. Unlike a Macbook, which doesn't rely on Apple services to function, this system is built on top of the Hangouts service.
    - nly 13y ago
taopao 13y ago
The BT phone bridges that sales and marketing seem to enjoy so much (whyyyyy) are a recurring cost that dwarfs this outlay.
carioca3 13y ago
I don't think HN is the target audience for this product. Many of us can roll out our own cheaper solution. This is targeted towards the non tech-savvy managers that want a cheaper video conference solution. The 250 dollar a year fee is tiny for a large company but large enough to prevent home users from adopting it.

I don't get why this is so expensive. What's the $250 a year get me? I'm used to Chromeboxes costing about $300, and web cams cost about $100 for an awesome one. So, $400 makes sense to me...?

bryanlarsen 13y ago

The competition for this product (Cisco, Magor, etc) can easily run into 6 figures. Think of it as Google charging $500 for the software & configuration in addition to the $250/year. Would you rather they made their money by showing ads during your conference?

incision 13y ago
Precisely. $250/yr. isn't even pocket change - it's lint relative to the price of a Tandberg set up.

aiiane 13y ago

The $250/year is for support and maintenance.

9to5Seth 13y ago

Let's go shopping, shall we? I recognize that Camera as a Logitech ($90) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATTIPZO?tag=thepartim-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B00ATTIPZO&adid=1NNSTPRYJANG77ZD3DP9& https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATTIPZO?tag=thepartim-20&camp=0... and that mic is a Jabra Speak 410 ($85) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ELA7TA?ie=UTF8&camp=213733&creative=393185&creativeASIN=B004ELA7TA&linkCode=shr&tag=thepartim-20 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ELA7TA?ie=UTF8&camp=213... And that remote looks like the one that comes with a Google TV ($40). We know the ASUS Box starts at under $200. I'll cut you a deal and sell it to you for $500?

telcodud 13y ago
Not the Asus Chromebox that uses Intel Core i7.
- nly 13y ago
  I can't fathom why this thing even needs such a high power CPU. Presumably it's running Android, so why not go with ARM + a nice video coprocessor to handle video?
sandyarmstrong 13y ago
The i7 version will be more than $200, too.

nairteashop 13y ago

I agree. I don't get what "support and maintenance" means. I currently have a set-top box (Apple TV), webcam, HD camera and speakers, and don't pay a yearly "maintenance" for any of them. Why would running a teleconferencing software on such a setup cost $250/year? The only motivation I can see is: "well the competition charges a hefty recurring fee, so why shouldn't we", but then the competition isn't doing all that well for this reason. I see a lot of resemblance to Cisco's "Umi" product, which had a $25/mo fee as well, and was a total flop.

aiiane 13y ago
You don't pay a yearly maintenance for any of them because if they break, you're going to have to fix them yourself. Most companies prefer to actually have a support plan, because if they don't, the alternative is to pay their own people to fix them, and it's usually cheaper to not pay someone full-time to have expertise in that area. This is a business-focused product offering.
- nairteashop 13y ago
  We had hundreds of expensive Macs at my last gig. Guess how many of those we bought AppleCare for? Zero. This was also true of pretty much every piece of electronic equipment we owned. Note that this isn't very unusual either at most companies. Given the low failure rate of most electronics, it is simply cheaper for the business/IT team to buy a replacement Mac / router / whatever than to pay any kind of yearly maintenance fee, which is always designed to make more money for the vendor. $250/year for a $999 piece of equipment is not a good deal. If it were an option, like AppleCare, most would advise you to not take it.
  - aiiane 13y ago
    It's not just hardware support, though - it's service support. Unlike a Macbook, which doesn't rely on Apple services to function, this system is built on top of the Hangouts service.
  - nly 13y ago

taopao 13y ago

The BT phone bridges that sales and marketing seem to enjoy so much (whyyyyy) are a recurring cost that dwarfs this outlay.

carioca3 13y ago

I don't think HN is the target audience for this product. Many of us can roll out our own cheaper solution. This is targeted towards the non tech-savvy managers that want a cheaper video conference solution. The 250 dollar a year fee is tiny for a large company but large enough to prevent home users from adopting it.