Quote Originally Posted by si_the_geek View Post
That is impressive, but a stable and complete driver will take much longer than that - particularly when it needs to be supported etc.
Why will it take much longer than that? It's a USB driver. They can always target only what they want to target (like Win7 and Win2003/Win2008) and be done with it. And it's working with xbox today. Do you really think that it needs so much more work? This is not just a technical problem. If it were, they'd be an announcement detailing the launch date of Kinect - if that was done, I'd be more patient and not gone down the OpenKinect road which also provides a Mac and a Linux driver.
Quote Originally Posted by si_the_geek View Post
Based on that the current profits will be terrible once you take all the various things into account (such as construction, delivery, retailer markup, returns, ...). I'd be surprised if they make more than $5.

Even when the overall costs drop and the per-unit profit rises (as generally happens over time), the profit will almost certainly be pathetic in comparison to software products, and even other hardware devices such as keyboards - and as such will probably not be a worthwhile market to actively chase.
Quote Originally Posted by si_the_geek View Post
I agree that it certainly has potential (some of the ideas in those links are very good), but in the short/medium term it is something that is almost certainly going to be a tiny niche in the PC market (probably in the long term too), and therefore not likely to be a noticeably profitable area for them.
Let's say that I agree that they're making a pathetic profit from the sale of a unit. The only other possible source of income is software. So just make the hardware easy to use in Windows so you can get people to write software for it and, god forbid, you may end up pushing more Windows/SQL Server/whatever licenses.

One of the following is true: either you underestimate the potential of kinect or I grossly overestimate the potential of kinect. Right now, I obviously can't be certain which is true. But that OpenKinect thing...those people were itching to get the sensor working on the PC. Currently the demand for it is certainly a tiny niche in the PC market but I think that it will not stay that way. Why not get in ahead of the curve and be the acknowledged leader/innovator?