

Telepresence: the next killer app (Cringely) - ph0rque
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070831_002850.html

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alex_c
Sure. And we'll have cold fusion by 2010, and a man on Mars by 2012.

Fiber-to-the-home has been promised for over 10 years. It may be getting
closer, but widespread availability by next year? I doubt it.

But the biggest problem is that no one actually WANTS a videoconferencing unit
in their home. The technology's been around for decades; ok, maybe not a high-
res large screen TV, but a 5" screen over POTS. To put it simply, people don't
want to have to dress up and do their hair just to place a phone call (and
what do you do if someone calls when you're in your PJs?)

The only real application at home are long-distance calls with family members
or friends who live far. This works okay with webcams, and I can't see enough
demand to buy large-screen video-conferencing units for this purpose to make
it a killer app.

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davidw
The economist just had a story on this:

[http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=...](http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9687655)

Doesn't really look like startup territory to me.

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stuki
Video conference units are awesome in work from home developer scenarios. When
collaborating on code, the ability to see the guy at the other end coding
away, is soooo much better than wondering if he hung up or got disconnected
when he stops talking to think or type. It really must be tried to be
believed. (And understanding Indians is a lot easier when you can see as well
as hear them:)). Also, with these things available, there is even less reason
for developers not to work out of private offices.

YC should convince Tandberg or Polycom to provide them some samples for a
lower cost. I'm sure some founders could find ways to put them to good use,
and the manufacturers could get some exposure in markets where they're not
well represented.

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tocomment
He's not talking about video-conferencing with a dinky webcam which yes, has
failed. He's talking about a system where it really feels like the person is
there. The attributes of life size-ness (sp) and eye contact make the
difference.

I don't think people will want this to replace telephone calls, rather to hold
business meetings. A Thanksgiving dinner would be pretty cool too. So it feels
like everyone is at the same table.

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ph0rque
The article mentioned Apple as the company who might sell these systems, but I
wonder if a start-up devoted exclusively to this business model might do it
better? One could use off-the-shelf hardware (to a large extent) and be almost
purely a software company.

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alex_c
The camera and microphone can make a huge difference. Businesses use brands
like <http://www.tandberg.com/> or <http://www.polycom.com/> and some of their
hardware is very good, if expensive. I'm not sure how off-the-shelf hardware
compares.

