How Much Would You Pay For Microsoft Surface?

[RangerWickett]

I first remember seeing cell phones on The X-Files in the early 90s. I got my first one in 2004. Plasma/LCD/etc. TVs have been out for a few years, but I'm not planning to trade up. I don't have the disposable income.

If I get more successful as a writer, my answer may change, but right now I'd have to wait 'til the price comes down to $500.

 

[keterys]

$1500 sounds like a grand introductory price. The size and resolution are the troubling factors now

But, since I was considering spending a grand to set up a game table with an overhead projector... yeah, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on further developments.

 

[Umbran]

Veers into politics ... ought to have been caught by the mods and yanked.

Funny, it sure looks to me like a moderator had spoken on the subject.

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[Dannager]

I'd pay $2,000. That price includes what I'd be willing to pay for a 4e game table client (like SurfaceScapes).

 

[frankthedm]

Yeah, you can spill stuff on it, it's covered in high pressure glass. And children and pets can get on it. It's good for up to 200 pounds.

Not enough

 

[jaerdaph]

Not enough

I gotta ask: Exactly what do you want to do on top of one (and with who)?

 

[falcarrion]

I'd be more inclined to spend the money hooking up a projector to the ceiling over one of those custom made gaming tables.

IIRC, wasn't the list price going to be around $10,000? I seem to remember that about a year ago when the MS Surface buzz started.

If I was going to open a bar (which I probably will be doing at some point as it has always been my dream to own a pub when I retire), I might consider buying a few. I'm not quite "sold" yet though.

Basicly the surface is using a projector, reflecting the picture upward to the screen. It also has ir imluminators and an ir camera which picks up the finger contacts. Which the software translates.

 

[frankthedm]

I gotta ask: Exactly what do you want to do on top of one (and with who)?

First, accidents happen, YHWH knows what can wind up on a table. Especially if it gets table-clothed when not used for gaming. second, furniture nowadays is ridiculously weak. Regardless of why, crap made today is made to break. Dowels and glue replace nuts and bolts in far too much so called furniture.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

I would pay somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000 for one (I voted $1,500) depending on whether or not it did something that I needed or wanted to do with it.

At anything less than $1,000, it would basically just have to look nice sitting in my living room. Closer to $2,000, and the salesperson would have to make one hell of a pitch.

 

[Xphile]

It all depends on what it could do...

In saying this, I mean in terms of hardware, not software. Is it possible for me to embed some sort of RFID chip into the bottom of my LOTR or D&D miniatures and have the table keep track of their locations? If so, I'd buy it just for the miniature wargaming aspect alone. Being able to have hundreds of units on a table with statistics being automatically kept track of by a computer instead of by hand would imho make things more enjoyable.

I've found in general, games tend to be made simple because otherwise you do have to keep track of a ton of things with charts and multiples sheets of data. If you can make the data easier to handle, games can become more complex and interesting.

Plus I think it would be a blast to have some computer war games that you could control on the table with a top down view.