I've seen about 50 "smart whiteboards" in people's offices in my life. I have never once seen such a whiteboard being actively used.<p>I see nothing in the jamboard that suggests it will fare any better.
Seems nice, but the the $600/yr fee is outrageous. This is on top of what your company is already paying for Google Apps.<p>This is essentially a well-built Chrome OS device with strong Google Apps integration that also isn't supported by your current Google Apps plan. Oh, and don't forget the $1200 rolling stand.
Sorry, but I've been burned too many times by side projects from Google that have then been killed off.<p>Memo to Google: The google brand is very strong in some areas, but your actions have rendered it toxic in some specific areas. Continuing to launch cool things and then killing them off when they don't gain traction is making this worse, not better.
The US government can't even get wifi in half their spaces and thinks 400 MB/s is plenty of bandwidth for a major hospital (hint: that doesn't even cover the contractually required reserves for all the contracted imaging systems). I'll never see this in my current job. We'll be speaking Chinese before that happens.
Google should release the software as part of Chrome OS. This way it could be used in Chrome OS devices connected to projects and screens in meeting rooms and classrooms. Once the collaborative features become a hit, then sell them the luxury device.<p>Otherwise with this ridiculous price it smells like DOA to me.
Well, this is some of the more interesting ideas recently from Google. But is this worth the price here? I think take photo of whiteboard is not really a deal breaker here. It is handy and intuitive.
I was able to use one of these at Google Next. It's pretty reasonable but I was still unimpressed. I have a very simple test for drawing applications that represents something I would do in reality: draw a system diagram with multiple components by drawing and labeling a couple components, copying them multiple times, drawing arrows between them as appropriate, and then rearranging it in a new way.<p>I very quickly found early limitations of the jamboard like (iirc) not being able to copy drawings or group text and drawings. I'm sure over time the programming will get better.
I would be curious to hear from anybody who has used a Jamboard, Surface hub or other digital whiteboard in a collaborative setting. Does it get used? More than the regular whiteboard and cell camera?
I can see VR/AR being the logical successor of this concept.<p>Why spend $5k on a new whiteboard when magic leap turns everything into a smart screen.
So I am now confused. We use Google Hangouts, ah, sorry now Meetings, with a Chrome box. Hows does this fit in? Do I need this and my current setup or can this take the place of the current system? It was not clear at all from the product page.<p>Google sometimes seems like they toss stuff against a wall to see what sticks without figuring out how it all goes together.
I really wanna like it, but I'm honestly really scared to invest both professionally and emotionally in new Google products. I feel like I've learned that fire is hot and that I shouldn't count on any new Google product lest I find myself in a fit of despair as I look for alternatives in a few years.<p>Am I just being overly cynical?