Chalk one up to the Cisco Marketing machine. I like the fact that Cisco has jumped in to video communications. I can't wait to see the product placement in the upcoming season of 24. Unfortunately, they have over engineered a solution that shows a disregard for the majority of the market.

Take a look at LifeSize Communications. They just released a FullHD 1080p 30 frames per second system that lists for under 17k. They also have a 720p 30fps system for under 5K.

Great article David. Your points are all valid. I personally think that there are a lot of barriers to success for bringing TelePresence functionality into the home. The current reality of bandwidth and unit cost to reiterate the most obvious. However, I think a couple of additional points are worth mentioning:

1. Chambers is well known for making predictions like this. They are not fast and loose and of course are key indicators as to the strategy being pursued. I would not bet against him.

2. Telepresence is NOT about doing high end video collaboration at the expense of other forms of video. Cisco has created and expanded a new category here that is complimentary. We now have more options for what makes sense given a set of meeting objectives. Other products exist, some before Telepresence, but they are all enjoying the attention created by what Cisco is accomplishing. This is a good thing for all involved.

3. Two relatively transparent things that have driven success for Cisco here:

- Ease of Use - you need NO training to have a meeting. If you can answer a phone/dial a phone...you can be effective with this.

- Niche focus/controlled environment - telepresence has not attempted to replicate all possible forms of video meetings. The focus is on talking heads with a high enough quality that you can forget you are in different places. The physical environment is closely controlled and the screens are custom sized, the cameras and sound are fixed so that your eye contact and hearing will match a live experience. It is truly surreal.

- Network - so many people ignore the importance of the network. Does it cost more to do it right - of course! Can you create a great endpoint, ignore the network side and expect consistency, reliability or quality. No.

All technology purchases need to be made with the firm understanding of what they are to accomplish. Saving a few bucks on a new technology that for various reasons may not truly transform your business processes so that you can compete more effectively (assuming that is your goal) is a wasted expense no matter how good of a deal you got. (I personally have a 'gadget museum' of stuff I had to have but could not effectively work into a process that was important for my focus...they fell to the wayside).

Costs will come down. Bandwidth will continue to go up. The intersection of these two lines will be different for every business and every family...but it will work it way closer over time.

Great article. Thanks for the coverage!

Robb Boyd
Cisco's TechWiseTV
www.mytechwisetv.com