How Apple Lost the Kinect to Microsoft -- and Why That's a Good Thing
The big rumor is Apple (APPL) could have had the PrimeSense motion controller hardware/software before it became the Microsoft (MSFT) Kinect. Don't listen to pundits: Apple is better for the missed opportunity, whether it realized it or not.
First, The Cult of Mac's Leander Kahney on PrimeSense CEO Inon Beracha:
[Beracha] had several meetings at Apple. It was the first place he and his engineers thought of. "It was the most natural place for the technology," he said... Yet the initial meetings hadn't gone so well. Obsessed with secrecy, Apple had already asked Beracha to sign a stack of crippling legal agreements and NDAs.
He shook his head. Why didn't he want to do a deal with Apple? No need. The technology was hot. He could sell it to anyone.
"Apple is a pain in the ass," he said, smiling.
It's a nice story that, though brief, is worth reading in full over at The Cult of Mac. However, despite the reason behind PrimeSense technology going to Microsoft, Apple is better for it in the short term, if not the long term.
Apple is currently immersed in multitouch technology. The motion controller may seem like the next step, but the company probably believes it can still get plenty of use from its touchscreens. Just this week Apple iOS 4.2 is expected to bring multitasking and other elements to the iPad. Does it really need to throw motion controllers into the mix right now?
As I uncovered in my review, the PrimeSense technology, as applied in the Kinect, isn't anywhere near the silky smooth standard Apple has established for itself. The Kinect needs more than six feet to see its user and, at this point, doesn't recognize the user enough to match the ease of current Apple products.
My BNET colleague Erik Sherman says the Kinect software may be the foundation for motion controls in laptops, PCs, and other Microsoft products. I agree, and Apple seems to be going in the opposite direction: Minimizing user difficulty curves with fool-proof idiot boxes like Apple TV. On the contrary, after using the Kinect for a week now, it's hard to picture a Luddite household embracing it.
Apple may have lost out on the foundation of Kinect, but it didn't seem to fit its gameplan anyway.
Photo courtesy of Cordey // CC 2.0
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