How MS Can Ensure the Success of HoloLens

[Motor_Mouth]

I think HoloLens is the future.(full stop) That said, it has one enormous obstacle to overcome and that is that it's a Microsoft product, which means it is going to be an object of scorn amongst the cool kids if MS can't get the marketing right (and they pretty much never do). So I thought we could start a thread here to offer up ideas that could help with the success of HoloLens. You never know who is going to read this stuff, so why not?

My thought is that white earbuds were such a big part of iPod's success and MS needs to do something like that here. People will want to take their HoloLens everywhere with them but, most of the time, they are not going to be wearing it in public. So how does MS make sure we can all identify the person with a HoloLens in tow in a subtle way that will have a positive effect on sales? I bought a pair of Sennheiser Momentum headphones last year and they came with both a soft case (like a big Oakley microfiber bag) and a very distinctive harder case that zips all the way around. I think this is what MS needs to ship with HoloLens - a distinctive case and bag (let users choose what they need in different situations) that everyone who sees it will know contains the future. The materials need to be nice, the branding needs to be very, very subtle (or absent entirely) but it needs to have a little something to identify it, like a red zip for the case and matching drawstring cord for the bag. Or maybe it needs to be a distinctive shape? Whatever it is, it needs to be a badge of honour (but not an actual badge) anyone would be happy for the rest of the world to see.

What can you think of that might help usher in the future?

 

[ChiefStealth]

For me, it will be all about the applications. I'm an IT guy, by trade. It would be great if I could manage servers, and applications, and web sites, and email accounts, and all of that other stuff, without needing 4 computer monitors, and 4 keyboards in front of me. I'm also a musician. I'd love to have tabs, or chord charts right in front of me, and be looking at the fretboard at the same time. Or seeing multiple audio recording screens while watching the other musicians at the same time. And games, and movies, and how-to videos, and all that other stuff. When I can do all of these things in AR/VR, then it will be worth the cost.

 

[Motor_Mouth]

That's all well and good but it's not going to get one in every home. As Apple show time and again, it's not about the product but how you make people feel about it. They need something that people can show in public that doesn't make them look like a dork (or an IT guy [no offense]), but instead makes other people want to be a part of it.

Another idea I had was maybe sell it with a "fanny-pack" style waist-strapped bag. But make it more like a gunslinger's holster from the wild west, something that dangles from your hip, rather than front or back and allows you to whip out your Hololens easily.

 

[anony_mouse]

I think HoloLens is the future.(full stop) That said, it has one enormous obstacle to overcome and that is that it's a Microsoft product, (snipped)

It also suffers from the fact you have to wear an enormous, heavy and stupid looking headset, and a nappy.

 

[Motor_Mouth]

Maybe, but not in public.