Microsoft Debuts 84-Inch Surface Hub Touch Display, HoloLens Augmented Reality Headset

[TallManNY]

IMHO Apple doesn't really give a damn about MacOS. They are essentially a mobile hardware company that sells a boat load of "apps" and music for those devices.
IMHO Apple is doing the same thing with downloads. Ride that 30% margin as long as you can before ceding to streaming. Hopefully for their own sake it won't be to their own peril like iTunes was to the record companies.

Just a few random ramblings from the mind of a former Apple Kool-Aid drinker who still longs for the sweet taste every now and then...

Just a response to a few of your ramblings.

When folks say that Apple does not care about MacOS, do they realize they are talking about a company composed of humans who actually have to use MacOS every day for work? These are tech guys who work in and on MacOS everyday. If there is something they care about, MacOS might be the first and foremost thing. They CANNOT use Windows. So they have to use MacOS to get their real and hard work done.

I think the problem Apple has with streaming is that the current pricing by their competitors is unsustainable or at least appeared so. They relied on (A) not paying the artists very much and (B) not paying their employees very much because stock options would keep them around. Apple didn't want to compete with either of those things.

But now that iPhone is nearing 50% of the U.S. cell phone share. And data prices have dropped to allow streaming for more people. Maybe Apple thinks it can stream to a large enough audience that they can collect sufficient revenue for the artists, the employees and for its shareholders all out of a streaming service. Obviously no streaming service has come close to achieving all three of those feats at once and I'm pretty sure none of achieved any of those yet either.

 

[DanGoh]

No but I did laugh a little after reading this news.

 

[MacAddict1978]

Apple doesn't need to waste its time designing & attempting to make a profit with products that are DOA at the get go.

they had a good decade but oh yes, prior almost went out of business for becoming boring and irrelevant

guess what they are starting to trend again? They can't ride the ipad forever

 

[unobtainium]

I work for a university with the 600 macs on campus. I'm using Yosemite on a 24" 2008 iMac, never had a problem once with PDFs. Unless you've done some troubleshooting that you haven't posted, I think your gripe with PDFs is something else going on other than Yosemite's version of Preview.

I'm not the only one:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6616093

https://discussions.apple.com/message/26987763#26987763

There are about a dozen more threads, and a few here on MacRumors too. I've tried all the troubleshooting steps, and have even reinstalled Yosemite, but nothing works. The problem seems to arise with annotated PDFs, and scanned PDFs especially. They used to work just fine on Mavericks.

 

[pmarinac]

Competition is good. At least MS is swinging the bat. Better than just continually making the bat whiter or thinner.

I think you are exactly right. Microsoft has done this thing before--the release of windows decimated any hope that the Mac would be a dominant platform. Can the release of windows 10 do the same for the IOS platform? Is it too late for MS? Is it too late for Apple?

MS has a leg up on Apple in a big way by releasing a single operating system that functions on all platforms. That's transformational. When will OSX be available for the iphone? Holographic computing, even more transformational. Imagine the applications. Tied in with Cortana? These are interesting times indeed.

This has got to have heads at Apple wondering why they are spending so much time on fashion accessories. Useful, cool, but not transformational. Unless they've got something else in the wings. It's was a decline in relevance that got MS to put it's nose back the grindstone and innovate. This will surely light a fire under Apple's ...

 

[stuffradio]

HOLOLENS WILL NEVER HAPPEN.

How soon people forget Google and *thier* equally impresive Glass demos.
Everyone and his brother screamed from the rooftops about how Glass was,
wait for it ...., "the future of computing®"!!
They even went so far as to actually *sell* preproduction units to a bunch of sucke-- um .... "early adopters".
And still, look what happened. Developers have completely ignored Glass. As well they should!
Now Glass is resigned to the dustbin of vaporware.

The same thing will happen with HoloLens.
Bold promises .... big talk .... wild ideas .... a nebulous release date ....
But in the end? ZIPPO.
By the way, the same thing will happen with the Oculus Rift.
Mark my words.

HoloLens looks like a revolutionary, as our British friends are wont to say, piece of kit.
So if this were a real thing, there'd be an iPhone debut-like event put on by Microsoft, focusing solely on HoloLens.
There wasn't. And that's very telling.

With your logic, Apple Watch WON'T HAPPEN EITHER.

 

[playspeed]

iSee. It's about time.

I have a concept design for Apple.

 

[nostresshere]

This fancy holo lens thing came out years ago.

In the movie Disclosure... clip

 

[cppguy]

More vaporware from Microsoft.

It isn't. They designed a helicopter in front of a live audience with it. Nasa is walking on Mars using the technology. It's promised to be released this year with Windows 10. They do need developers to create content, though.

 

[blucurv]

It's called innovation. Nobody is seriously expecting this or the holo lens to be mass market sellers, but the concepts are intriguing and could lead to other avenues.

Way before the iPad or even the iPhone, the original Microsoft Surface tabletop computer was shown off in early 2007. It had previously little-known features like multi touch, touch to zoom and other now commonplace ways to interact with the device. Sure nobody bought one, but the concept pushed forward the whole industry.

Microsoft Surface multimedia coffee table: http://youtu.be/SRU3NemA95k

It's rather annoying how some folks consider MS innovative for showing off a prototype of what may never happen, even though Apple has filed for patents that describe technology like the HoloLens since 2006: http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/07/03/new-patent-shows-apple-is-at-least-thinking-about-wearable-computing-devices-like-google-glass/


Also, the tabletop never made it to consumers, just like the Courier was shown off before the iPad was ever announced. Where are they now. I'm sure I'll be asking the same same questions in a couple of years regarding the HoloLens.

Unlike Google and MS, Apple tends to announced products that they feel are ready for consumers. They don't announce demo prototypes that may never make it to the market. I know for a fact that MS does this all the time.

 

[GoSh4rks]

Also, the tabletop never made it to consumers, just like the Courier was shown off before the iPad was ever announced. Where are they now. I'm sure I'll be asking the same same questions in a couple of years regarding the HoloLens.

Unlike Google and MS, Apple tends to announced products that they feel are ready for consumers. They don't announce demo prototypes that may never make it to the market. I know for a fact that MS does this all the time.

I don't think PixelSense was ever targeted towards "consumers." Completely different market from what Apple targets.

 

[addicted44]

Also, the tabletop never made it to consumers, just like the Courier was shown off before the iPad was ever announced. Where are they now. I'm sure I'll be asking the same same questions in a couple of years regarding the HoloLens.

The tabletop was never designed for end users. It was designed (and priced) for stuff like store displays, and airports, etc. What a lot of Mac people seem to miss is that MS creates a lot of stuff (the vast majority, probably) for businesses and not consumers. And courier was never even a prototype. It was a concept at best (which is why the MS fans clamoring for it were foolish).

The HoloLens is more ready than the iPhone was when it was first revealed. There are organizations like NASA already using it, and the press had live demos and interactions with it. It's not vapor ware (although it is still possible it never makes it to market, but that doesn't mean it is vaporware).

 

[iPadCary]

The truth is you really don't want MS to beat Apple at their own game.

Game? What game? Apple isn't into AR or VR.
Or perhaps you mean "game"=innovative devices.
The truth is exactly what I said it is:
Apple is a company that only shows stuff that will actually be sold,
while Microsoft is a company whose hardware history is rife with ballyhooed gizmos
that end up never seeing the light of day [Courier, etc.] or are outright failures [Kin, etc.].

 

[Michael Goff]

Game? What game? Apple isn't into AR or VR.
Or perhaps you mean "game"=innovative devices.
The truth is exactly what I said it is:
Apple is a company that only shows stuff that will actually be sold,
while Microsoft is a company whose hardware history is rife with ballyhooed gizmos
that end up never seeing the light of day [Courier, etc.] or are outright failures [Kin, etc.].

At least they're trying new things, not just making new big iPhones with the occasional big iPod Touch.

 

[Putzytart]

I'm still not convinced that people in serious numbers want to wear tech on their head. Maybe Google glass got the software a bit wrong, but most reviews stated that it was just a bit weird wearing tech on your face regardless of the software implementation. And glass was much more discreet than Hololens. Just look at that thing, it's serious chunk. I can maybe understand it for VR gaming like Occulus Rift, but that's because you want a completely immersive experience for gaming and cut everything else out.

Wearing a headset to check my calendar? No.
Wearing a headset to make a Skype call? No.
Wearing a headset to watch TV? No.
I can do all of those things already without a headset.

Designing a motorbike in 3D? That's great, but hardly any of us of us are product designers, and I'm sure they already have their industry standard methods that won't be beaten.

No matter which way I think about it, I just don't see it taking off.

My prediction that even if it does get released (it won't), it will be dead within a year. Sorry, but this has vaporware all over it for me. Not gonna happen.

 

[TouchMint.com]

Really couldnt bring this to CES?

 

[Darrin Bell]

With attempt after attempt after attempt to get customers to use 3D at the movies or on their computer or TV, what makes them think that holographic images might have a chance in hell of succeeding? The people have voted over and over, but they hear not.

People flock to see 3D movies these days. 3D was a miserable failure for half a century. But then Avatar did it right. Now there's a simultaneous 3-D release for almost every blockbuster film, from Gravity to Guardians of the Galaxy, because the audience has proven it'll pay a premium for it. The same principle that made modern 3D films successful is the same principle that makes Microsoft think holographic images have a chance: no new technology ever works... until it does. There's every chance this'll be the next Zune or Google Glass. But someone's eventually going to make this sort of thing work, and the only thing Microsoft can be certain of is it won't be them if they're not trying.

At any rate, I don't get the impression these are aimed at the average consumer. This may do very well in the niche it's targeting. "NASA is using this to let its scientists walk on Mars" tells me this technology is already compelling.

 

[nando87]

I'm still not convinced that people in serious numbers want to wear tech on their head. Maybe Google glass got the software a bit wrong, but most reviews stated that it was just a bit weird wearing tech on your face regardless of the software implementation. And glass was much more discreet than Hololens. Just look at that thing, it's serious chunk. I can maybe understand it for VR gaming like Occulus Rift, but that's because you want a completely immersive experience for gaming and cut everything else out.

Wearing a headset to check my calendar? No.
Wearing a headset to make a Skype call? No.
Wearing a headset to watch TV? No.
I can do all of those things already without a headset.

Designing a motorbike in 3D? That's great, but hardly any of us of us are product designers, and I'm sure they already have their industry standard methods that won't be beaten.

No matter which way I think about it, I just don't see it taking off.

My prediction that even if it does get released (it won't), it will be dead within a year. Sorry, but this has vaporware all over it for me. Not gonna happen.

That's why you have so much time to be posting here

 

[Damtoft]

Microsoft just became a lot cooler than Apple

 

[bobob]

Microsoft just became a lot cooler than Apple

That's what some said when Google came out with Glass - - now look where that product's heading...

{Note: Unfortunately, the url contains a bad word that MacRumors is filtering out - - but I highly recommend going to The Onion's website and searching out the article on "unsold google glass units" - - too funny!}

 

[iPadCary]

My prediction that even if it does get released (it won't), it will be dead within a year.
Sorry, but this has vaporware [written] all over it for me. Not gonna happen.

Of course it won't get released.
Of course it's vaporware.
Of course it won't happen.

Microsoft had a nice reaction to Band. Now it's back to SquareOne with HoloLens ....

 

[Gildarts]

Huh! how, if something fails years down the line, how could Apple really know about it. How on earth can they QA for that? They're not panel experts. They're not designing or building those things.

It is not like they're buying the cheapest components out there either. They buy from the same gang as most others top end makers... Because like I said, there's not that many choices out there in top end panels.

They expect good quality from their suppliers too.

If indeed there is such a large scale systemic issue across years and tech don't you think somebody else would have seen it?

Also, kind of weird that one person has all those issues while in my whole extended family dozens of devices I've never heard of any. That's one insane run of bad luck there...

You're kidding me right? It failed within a 6 months period. I don't know where you're from but here in the Netherlands according to Dutch law the product is assumed to be factory faulted if it displays faultiness within a 6 month period after purchase. And I don't have to tell you about the two year Warranty period for EU Law.

You think Apple is not a panel expert? They may not design the panels but they know what is and isn't quality stuff. iPhone 6/6+ have the best smartphone panels in the industry. iMac 5K and you're telling me Apple doesn't know their stuff?

 

[roadbloc]

Microsoft seem to be on top form once again. They've been threatening to be on top form for a few years now but always managed to squeeze in a blunder of some sort. Hopefully, 2015 will be the year that doesn't happen.

 

[maflynn]

Microsoft seem to be on top form once again. They've been threatening to be on top form for a few years now but always managed to squeeze in a blunder of some sort. Hopefully, 2015 will be the year that doesn't happen.

They do seem to be firing on all cylinders lately, the proof will be in the pudding.

 

[Scarpad]

can they somehow build this into my eyeballs or make it about the size of a pair of wayfarers, cause right now its super geeky.

Plus I can I put a hottie blonde into my Living room if so ....

----------

The tabletop was never designed for end users. It was designed (and priced) for stuff like store displays, and airports, etc. What a lot of Mac people seem to miss is that MS creates a lot of stuff (the vast majority, probably) for businesses and not consumers. And courier was never even a prototype. It was a concept at best (which is why the MS fans clamoring for it were foolish).

The HoloLens is more ready than the iPhone was when it was first revealed. There are organizations like NASA already using it, and the press had live demos and interactions with it. It's not vapor ware (although it is still possible it never makes it to market, but that doesn't mean it is vaporware).

what are you talking about I see it being used every week on Hawaii Five-O<g>