God damnit, another "this looks really cool in a demo but has no actual practical application" showcase project from Microsoft.
Flashy animations, incredibly purpose-specific widgets, and interactive graphs? Check.
Video showing kids and families using the app to look up / compile trivia, for something nobody has ever actually done or would have any reason to do in real life? Check.
"Social integration" as a selling point? Check.
Microsoft: stop making this shit, like Office Assistant or Microsoft Bob, thinking it's a way of selling your platform to "the average user". The problem you want to solve is "customers aren't buying enough Microsoft products" - the problem you have in solving it is you think users say "I'm not buying enough Microsoft products", too. That is not the problem that they are looking to solve.
People only say "that's something interesting I could play with" when they're trying to convince themselves to buy something they don't need (like a Quadcopter, or anything "as seen on TV") - it seems Microsoft's target audience for the last decade has been exclusively the kind of consumer who looks for reasons to buy Microsoft products (in other words, Microsoft employees).
Flashy animations, incredibly purpose-specific widgets, and interactive graphs? Check.
Video showing kids and families using the app to look up / compile trivia, for something nobody has ever actually done or would have any reason to do in real life? Check.
"Social integration" as a selling point? Check.
Microsoft: stop making this shit, like Office Assistant or Microsoft Bob, thinking it's a way of selling your platform to "the average user". The problem you want to solve is "customers aren't buying enough Microsoft products" - the problem you have in solving it is you think users say "I'm not buying enough Microsoft products", too. That is not the problem that they are looking to solve.
People only say "that's something interesting I could play with" when they're trying to convince themselves to buy something they don't need (like a Quadcopter, or anything "as seen on TV") - it seems Microsoft's target audience for the last decade has been exclusively the kind of consumer who looks for reasons to buy Microsoft products (in other words, Microsoft employees).