Meeting Owl? Probably a rant.
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I work for a small tech company. Sometimes we try to look cool. Our conference room started with a web cam and a long USB extension cord plus a long HDMI cable. This setup worked just fine and everybody understood it. Along came the board of directors and we had to get a YeaLink system[^]. There was abrasion at first, but I've grown to enjoy it. You forward a meeting to an email address attached to its PC and then you can use a touch screen device on the table to start a meeting. No need to bring a computer with you to a meeting unless you're presenting. This has been our status quo for a few years. Fast forward to current time and the board of directors has decided we need to be more modern. We now have the [Owl Labs Meeting Owl 3](https://owllabs.com/products/meeting-owl-3). This thing is a serious mess. To use it via your phone (cause there is not touch screen), you have to be on the same wifi network and install an app to start the meeting. On a laptop, you have to install an app and physically connect to a USB-C cable. In Zoom, you have to change your mic, speakers, and video to the owl. Then you have to go through multiple steps on the monitor to connect it wireless to the laptop. Anybody that had dealt with smart TVs knows there is nothing smart about this process. I guess I'm saying meetings are bad enough without needless tech making it harder to get started.
Hogan
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I work for a small tech company. Sometimes we try to look cool. Our conference room started with a web cam and a long USB extension cord plus a long HDMI cable. This setup worked just fine and everybody understood it. Along came the board of directors and we had to get a YeaLink system[^]. There was abrasion at first, but I've grown to enjoy it. You forward a meeting to an email address attached to its PC and then you can use a touch screen device on the table to start a meeting. No need to bring a computer with you to a meeting unless you're presenting. This has been our status quo for a few years. Fast forward to current time and the board of directors has decided we need to be more modern. We now have the [Owl Labs Meeting Owl 3](https://owllabs.com/products/meeting-owl-3). This thing is a serious mess. To use it via your phone (cause there is not touch screen), you have to be on the same wifi network and install an app to start the meeting. On a laptop, you have to install an app and physically connect to a USB-C cable. In Zoom, you have to change your mic, speakers, and video to the owl. Then you have to go through multiple steps on the monitor to connect it wireless to the laptop. Anybody that had dealt with smart TVs knows there is nothing smart about this process. I guess I'm saying meetings are bad enough without needless tech making it harder to get started.
Hogan
If it ain't broke, keep 'fixing' it until it is.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment "Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst "I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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I work for a small tech company. Sometimes we try to look cool. Our conference room started with a web cam and a long USB extension cord plus a long HDMI cable. This setup worked just fine and everybody understood it. Along came the board of directors and we had to get a YeaLink system[^]. There was abrasion at first, but I've grown to enjoy it. You forward a meeting to an email address attached to its PC and then you can use a touch screen device on the table to start a meeting. No need to bring a computer with you to a meeting unless you're presenting. This has been our status quo for a few years. Fast forward to current time and the board of directors has decided we need to be more modern. We now have the [Owl Labs Meeting Owl 3](https://owllabs.com/products/meeting-owl-3). This thing is a serious mess. To use it via your phone (cause there is not touch screen), you have to be on the same wifi network and install an app to start the meeting. On a laptop, you have to install an app and physically connect to a USB-C cable. In Zoom, you have to change your mic, speakers, and video to the owl. Then you have to go through multiple steps on the monitor to connect it wireless to the laptop. Anybody that had dealt with smart TVs knows there is nothing smart about this process. I guess I'm saying meetings are bad enough without needless tech making it harder to get started.
Hogan
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I work for a small tech company. Sometimes we try to look cool. Our conference room started with a web cam and a long USB extension cord plus a long HDMI cable. This setup worked just fine and everybody understood it. Along came the board of directors and we had to get a YeaLink system[^]. There was abrasion at first, but I've grown to enjoy it. You forward a meeting to an email address attached to its PC and then you can use a touch screen device on the table to start a meeting. No need to bring a computer with you to a meeting unless you're presenting. This has been our status quo for a few years. Fast forward to current time and the board of directors has decided we need to be more modern. We now have the [Owl Labs Meeting Owl 3](https://owllabs.com/products/meeting-owl-3). This thing is a serious mess. To use it via your phone (cause there is not touch screen), you have to be on the same wifi network and install an app to start the meeting. On a laptop, you have to install an app and physically connect to a USB-C cable. In Zoom, you have to change your mic, speakers, and video to the owl. Then you have to go through multiple steps on the monitor to connect it wireless to the laptop. Anybody that had dealt with smart TVs knows there is nothing smart about this process. I guess I'm saying meetings are bad enough without needless tech making it harder to get started.
Hogan
snorkie wrote:
I guess I'm saying meetings are bad enough
The 4 day work week. These companies tried a 4-day workweek. More than a year in, they still love it : NPR[^] "They keep all meetings to 30 minutes and make sure those meetings start on time."