Comments on: Microsoft Photosynth – Welcome to the Future of Virtual Tours http://point2agentblog.com/2008/09/05/welcometothefutureofvirtualtours/ Real Estate, Software, Chocolate on Top Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:10:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Chris de Jong http://point2agentblog.com/2008/09/05/welcometothefutureofvirtualtours/#comment-38 Chris de Jong Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:33:04 +0000 http://agent.point2.com/blog/?p=53#comment-38 Hi Fred, Thanks for the insight. I completely agree with you that Photosynth has a ways to go before it reaches its potential of creating a viable alternative to Flash for media presentation. Having to navigate away from your destination in order to install a plugin is a deal breaker for most users - no matter how genuinely cool or engaging it may be. However, I also recognize that an application such as this amounts to nothing more than a proof of concept. I am sure the powers-that-be in Redmond are already thinking of ways to make the product more transparent and portable. Perhaps native support for IE8? Hi Fred,

Thanks for the insight. I completely agree with you that Photosynth has a ways to go before it reaches its potential of creating a viable alternative to Flash for media presentation.

Having to navigate away from your destination in order to install a plugin is a deal breaker for most users – no matter how genuinely cool or engaging it may be.

However, I also recognize that an application such as this amounts to nothing more than a proof of concept. I am sure the powers-that-be in Redmond are already thinking of ways to make the product more transparent and portable.

Perhaps native support for IE8?

]]> By: Fred http://point2agentblog.com/2008/09/05/welcometothefutureofvirtualtours/#comment-39 Fred Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:01:08 +0000 http://agent.point2.com/blog/?p=53#comment-39 1. This product REQUIRES you to download a plug in in order to view. Putting up barriers like that is just a bad idea in this day and age. People won't do it. 2. This product is only viewable on a Windows or Vista machine. You're now also cutting out all Mac users. Now eliminating 10% of the people who MIGHT download a plug in. 3. This product requires a fairly new computer to run. This also eliminates a whole lot of people using older machines with less horsepower. It will fail for the same reason video failed for many years. People will NOT take the time to download a special plug in , install it, THEN navigate back to your site. Video only became popular when it utilized Flash, which is universal on almost all machines. It's a cool product, but it's a bad marketing idea for real estate. Right now. 1. This product REQUIRES you to download a plug in in order to view. Putting up barriers like that is just a bad idea in this day and age. People won’t do it.
2. This product is only viewable on a Windows or Vista machine. You’re now also cutting out all Mac users. Now eliminating 10% of the people who MIGHT download a plug in.
3. This product requires a fairly new computer to run. This also eliminates a whole lot of people using older machines with less horsepower.

It will fail for the same reason video failed for many years. People will NOT take the time to download a special plug in , install it, THEN navigate back to your site. Video only became popular when it utilized Flash, which is universal on almost all machines.

It’s a cool product, but it’s a bad marketing idea for real estate. Right now.

]]>