Microsoft could be hoping for an “Oprah effect” for its Surface tabletop computer.
Microsoft gave a demo of health-care applications designed for the Surface tabletop computer to media mogul Oprah Winfrey’s production company for consideration for use in a new television show with Dr. Mehmet Oz. The doctor has been featured often on Winfrey’s talk show and is famous for a series of best-selling health-care and weight-loss books he co-authored with Dr. Michael Roizen.
Marketers dream of having products endorsed by Winfrey because it can result in a dramatic increase in sales, the so-called “Oprah effect.” The Microsoft demonstration was specifically for Winfrey’s spinoff program with Dr. Oz, so it is unclear whether she will display the Surface on her show. The price tag for a Surface is US$12,000.
Microsoft didn’t go after Winfrey solely as a way to raise mass-market awareness for the Surface. After initially targeting retail and hospitality segments, Microsoft has recently begun pitching the Surface to government, educational and health-care institutions, said Ken Mallit, solutions architect for the public sector at Microsoft.
At the CIO Summit, an annual get together in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft on Wednesday showed off some Surface applications that could appeal to such customers. Microsoft typically doesn’t write the programs internally, instead partnering with third-party software developers.
One application lets users manipulate images of the body, turning and examining an image of the heart, for example.
A doctor might use such an application to explain to patients conditions they have and to depict how their physiology might differ from the standard. The doctor can erase parts of the heart or add arteries, for example, to show patients what their heart looks like compared to a normal one.
After seeing the health-care application at the CIO Summit, Daniel Duffy, CTO for Seattle University, imagined using it and the Surface as a teaching tool.