25 years connecting a person to a computer

Last Friday, in the Large Hall of the Artplay Design Center in Moscow, Microsoft's hardware division gathered partners and the press to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Over this very long time, by the standards of the industry, Microsoft Hardware has become one of the leading developers of innovative technologies used in such familiar and everyday devices like keyboards, mice, joysticks and webcams, has made the convenience and comfort of the user a mandatory rule and in many ways determined how we manage our PC today. Having become one of the invitees, I enjoyed communicating with these people who were really keen on their business, and got acquainted with the results of their work and some plans for the future.

In addition to Maria Dolgolenko and Vladimir Vereshchagin from MS Hardware’s Russian representative office, Carla Forester and Barb Schwabe from the main office in Redmond, leading the company's products worldwide, came to the meeting. Unfortunately, Murat Onuk, who is engaged in the development of partner business in our region (Europe, Middle East and Africa), could not come. After a short interview for Habr and other publications, they made a presentation of 8 new devices (read about three of them here ). The whole event, despite the seriousness of the occasion, was held in a pleasant informal atmosphere, for which many thanks I want to say to the organizers of the PR-agency Imageland, and especially Valeria Tvardovskaya. The interview took place in the bar Suzy Wong Bar, and I can now advise this place to visit anyone who is nearby!

We talked about mice and Russian specifics with Mrs Forester, senior product marketing manager for Microsoft Hardware products. On the example of a carefully thought out mouse from the revived line for gamers, Sidewinder is very well aware of the company's thorough approach to its work, so our conversation, I think, turned out to be interesting for a wide audience as well.

First of all, I want to congratulate you on such a date, 25 years is a lot! I myself am among the fans of your products and would like to wish you the same success in the future!
')
Thank you very much!

We know that since the time of the Microsoft Mouse 2.0 mouse and the Microsoft Natural keyboard, ergonomics and user friendliness are very important for Microsoft Hardware. I myself use the Microsoft keyboard and its main advantage is that I simply do not notice it in my work. Do you think that the harmony between very serious functionality and convenience was observed in the Sidewinder mouse? Does the user have to think about what and how he makes the mouse?

When we decided to revive the Sidewinder line, we wanted to show maximum attention to detail. We conducted a lot of research, watching gamers in their natural “habitats” and focus groups, sorting out various forms of the mouse. Our industrial designer worked closely with the ergonomist (by the way, MS Hardware is the only company in the industry that has a full-time employee in this position , my comment ), but he wanted to do something really different from our main product line and past models. The way the shooter players work with the mouse is completely different from the way ordinary users work with it. They put in emotions, make sharp, specific movements and are very demanding for mouse feedback, to be sure that they pressed one or another button and turned the wheel as it should, that is, they did what they wanted to do. Based on this, we have created the entire design, from the form to the materials. The best gamers mouse becomes like a part of them, they act it without thinking.

An interesting idea with a LCD indicator on the mouse. Does the company plan to somehow develop this idea and, possibly, work with other vendors to unify such indicators?

We conduct research in this area. For example, we are interested in which option would be better - with a built-in or remote LCD-display, which will display the resolution with which the mouse is currently working and icons that illustrate how to work with macros. And, of course, if we find particularly successful solutions, we will try to popularize this idea throughout the industry.

Now the typical question that our press asks representatives of foreign companies. Do you feel that working in Russia is somehow different from working in other parts of the world? Sidewinder, for example, is a product of the highest category and it is intended for a special circle of users. Is it difficult to sell and promote such products with us?

This is a big question. In Redmond, we are promoting products worldwide. We conduct research in every region. For Europe, for example, the experimental country is most often Germany, for Asia - Japan, etc. We also receive information from our local representatives in each country. We trust them and rely on their knowledge of local needs and specifics.

In more developed markets, such as the USA, UK, Germany, we have more opportunities to cooperate with large retailers. And they give us tangible support. We came to Russia several years ago, worked for a long time only in the sector of OEM sales, and only a couple of years ago we went into retail business. There are already big sellers here and we would like to work with them. In general, Russia is seen as a great opportunity, and Russia is among the priority countries for us.

There are particularities in each country, but, in general, we notice that there are not too many differences between users around the world. Let's say we often hear that mice for laptops are popular in Asia, ostensibly because of the small size of the hand of the average buyer. But the same gamers, regardless of whether they live in Russia, in Germany or Japan, most likely want the same thing. Yes, localization is an important area of ​​our work in entering new markets, and this is costly. But if we see that the market is successful, we try to localize as many products for it as possible. As far as I know, we supply almost all models to Russia. And this strategy, the desire to offer the widest possible range of products, we are true around the world.

Then we continued with Barb Schwabe, who leads the promotion of serial products. At the interview, she took over all the questions on the keyboards. In the beginning, we basically figured out what advantages MS Hardware has from the fact that it is part of Big Microsoft. The advantage is that the new trends in software-oriented design (under Vista, of course, above all) MSH learns a bit earlier than Microsoft’s third-party partners. Therefore, it is easier for them to get the approval of Windows Hardware Qualify Labs , and therefore the right to place beautiful buttons with the Windows checkbox on the keyboard. Well, and then I just could not resist the question about the keyboard of One of the Famous Domestic Design Studios :)

Have you heard about the keyboard of the Optimus Maximus “Art. Lebedev Studio”? This is the one that has each key on the LCD display.

Me not. I think our developers have heard, but personally I have not heard. We have seen examples of the use of LCD-displays in keyboards, but I did not know about such, where the displays on each key.

Well, how do you feel about this idea itself, thanks to which each key can perform almost any function, without forgetting, however, that Optimus Maximus is on sale for $ 1500?

( Surprise, easy laughter ) I think that technology that cannot be available to the masses may be wasted. If you can not share its benefits with many, and fix them only for the few who can afford them, I personally think it is a shame. But if the price is set aside, as far as the possibility of unlimited functionality is concerned, then I believe that this will be very difficult. We know that many of our customers do not even use the options that we offer them today. Why? They do not understand them, they do not need them ... Their immediate needs are fully met by basic functions. But nevertheless, we still offer them, because users will certainly need them when they become more experienced. When I think about the LCD displays on the keys, a part of me admires this idea, but another part wants this idea to fit into some kind of framework, not to carry redundancy.

Do designers work in MS Hardware from Russia?

No, I think not.

With each new model, keyboards from the Natural series ( keyboards with a special ergonomic shape ) take on more and more interesting and surprising shapes. Do you think there is still room to work to make them more comfortable, or has a reasonable limit reached today?

Maybe. I suppose that if we achieve more radical forms that are close to the most natural for a person ( shows how a hand clasps a ball , mine ), buyers will be frightened. So in the new model we have chosen the path of a smooth modification of its predecessor. But do we think that they have reached the limit? Not! I think there is still a lot of room for development. But it will depend on the desire of consumers to get even more comfort. Today, only about 10-15% want buyers something as radical as those of the Natural series that are already sold today. Once again, here we will go solely by the desire of the consumers themselves. If they say we will go. Our ergonomist for the sake of this soul lay ( satirical "Ha!" :) ).

What is the target audience for ergonomic keyboards and mice? And how much money and effort do you spend on advertising these products among this audience?

The answer to the second question is no. The target audience is those who print 10-12 hours a day and face a truly serious health hazard. As a rule, these are women working in offices. We do not spend money on advertising aimed at them. They learn about the benefits of our products in the store. Because, according to our data, the decision to buy a particular model comes to the buyer already in the store, less often when reading reviews or tests in print or on the Internet.

After an incendiary mini-presentation of two new webcams (I must say, very attractive, after many years of domination of spherical cameras, and, among other things, wonderfully integrating with the Windows Live service!), Which Barb conducted for me personally and which I (to Fortunately, of course! :)) I could not avoid it, we all moved to the Great Hall, where the actual presentation and press conference had already taken place.

It is always nice to attend a truly professional presentation (with dubbing facts like “we sell one unit of our products every second” and with a loud “Bummm!” At the end of the introductory video), and this was one of them. In the year that has passed since MS Hardware has come firmly to Russia, the Russian representative office has grown from 2 to 9 people. He has a lot of work on localization, relations with retailers and distributors, and plans to increase sales and service levels. And this is despite the fact that today sales in Russia are just a few percent of the world total. Such an attitude cannot but encourage, even in spite of the pouring rain that rained all day. By the way, for such a weather, Barb Shvabe even said Moscow thanks, because she is exactly like they have in Seattle.

On this, I think, it is possible to finish this big and sometimes incoherent story. And, by the way, Vladimir Vereshchagin, marketing MS Hardware in Russia, nevertheless promised to bring and show Surface. True did not say when. So we are waiting.