Microsoft Home Servers - for Kids?

by Tom Andry — last modified January 14, 2008

Mommy, I'm scared...

Summary

Product Name: Home Server
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Review Date: January 14, 2008 13:56
First Impression: Mildly Interesting

Specifications

Executive Overview

While the home servers are nothing new, Microsoft's new method of introducing them to your child certainly is. "Mommy, why is there a server in the house" children's book was eye opening to us on a lot of levels. First of all, how does someone (no matter their age) call a server a server without knowing what it does? Second, why does the child sound so scared? Is it just because the thing is so loud or does the server put off an air of evil? While we understand that children need to be informed about computer and HT components in your home, we figure every page of that book should have a big read stop sign with the words "Don't Touch" on it. But that's just us. Hey, you're only about 2 years from having your child know more about your electronics than you do so maybe you should just enjoy these years of technological superiority. For more information, please visit www.microsoft.com.

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AVRat posts on January 20, 2008 13:20

I guess announcements on upgraded pre/pros was skimpy/non-existent since nothing was reported, eh?

The Chukker posts on January 15, 2008 23:28

Scratch that - when I wrote that article, I was converting from Yen to $ and came to $1800. Turns out it will cost more like $2500 according to Sony. Yikes. It would be interesting if someone used the average price points for LCD or Plasma tv's (from say 27" to 60+") and then applied that sliding scale model to OLED tv's to give a "rough" idea of what the larger panels would cost in comparison. I know this logic is inherently flawed but geez, $2500 for an 11" tv? pfffff.
Do you get the feeling these guys are just showing off for it's own sake?

Tom Andry posts on January 15, 2008 10:10

Scratch that - when I wrote that article, I was converting from Yen to $ and came to $1800. Turns out it will cost more like $2500 according to Sony. I'd love to see this tech mature but I have a feeling that no one is going to want to invest in it enough to get the infrastructure to the point were they can be produced cheaply. With the majority of the public rolling their eyes at me when I tell them that there is a difference between SD and HD, I can't believe that we're going to convince them that a high contrast ratio is reason enough to spend 5x on an OLED display.

Tom Andry posts on January 15, 2008 08:43

So what kind of price differential are we talking about here? Did Samsung actually have an MSRP for the 31" model? If mass production were to indeed start in 2010 of mid to large sized models, what price point is Samsung shooting for and what was the maximum size they were touting?

Sony just released their first 11" OLED at $1800
Toshiba isn't going to release any at all based on manufacturing costs
[read more [audioholics.com]]

Samsung didn't talk price (heck, they didn't have a price tag on a single item in their booth) but many times these tech showcases are just stuff they are exploring.

The Chukker posts on January 14, 2008 17:44

"there is ample evidence that OLED will never come down in price enough to be a serious contender against LCDs."
So what kind of price differential are we talking about here? Did Samsung actually have an MSRP for the 31" model? If mass production were to indeed start in 2010 of mid to large sized models, what price point is Samsung shooting for and what was the maximum size they were touting?