Last week I berated the company for lacking marketing flair, but this week I’ve been justifyably drooling over Microsoft PixelSense. Things change so quickly in tech. That’s why I love it so…
$8,000 is a lot for a glass coffee table with a plasma screen under it, but for an incredibly sophisticated, polytouch (*patents that word*) brand-new form factor it is about in-line with what you’d expect to pay. Just look how expensive HD LCD TVs were 10 years ago.
And Now for a Shot of Reality
I’m going to set my stall out here, now, and say it’s doomed to failure. Why? Well, even if it was 1/4 the price, it would still be more expensive than buying a really good Smart TV AND buying an iPad. And secondly, most importantly, the form factor doesn’t actually work. Our heads don’t like to look down at screens, it hurts your neck muscles. That’s why we don’t have TVs built into coffee tables!
Now an iPad-controlled Smart TV… now you’re onto something saleable. Your head isn’t fighting gravity all the time, and when you want to take the universe to bed with you (as you will) you can. Switch off the Smart TV and take the iPad away with you.
While the Redmondian operating system pimp have really impressed me lately with Metro and some of the features on Windows Phone 8, I’m afraid PixelSense will only be popular in Microsoft’s many lobbies throughout the world, and perhaps some FTSE 100 companies might be able to get one as a centrepiece in their reception areas. It is a technology demonstration and nothing more…