Rev, I agree... Multi-port has been done to death, although ISRG's ongoing sales numbers indicate to me a couple things... There is still a TON of market space for new robotic systems, and Transenterix helped prove that it will be difficult to compete in the multi-port space (although their floor space requirements for all those separate towers certainly put them at a major disadvantage). Therefore, if the market is willing to keep buying 20 year old multi-port technology, they must be hungry for something new and different and better. Other than having developed some level of disdain for ISRG's tactics, there isn't any reason for a hospital to take on the risk of a newcomer for the same-old quad-hole solution they can get from a known entity with a reasonable track record (ISRG). SPORT is new and different and better. If JnJ is developing a multi-port robot, that is even better for us because it keeps us in the rarified space of new and better. As for name recognition of Google being a panacea for marketing, let me just say two words - Google Glass. Google can flop as hard as anyone (except maybe Trixie!). The Google name does not necessarily need to cause fear among potential competitors.
As for your "meat and potatoes" comment, I definitely agree that in this space, the mechanical capabilities are everything, and software just enables those capabilites - the software must be implemented well for safety reasons, and the User Interface is also a huge factor, but the real capabilities are borne of the mechanical design.
SPORT19 quoted the following:
"The team has already made meaningful progress on the robotics platform, which is being developed for application across a host of surgical specialties.” Having been in the medical device industry since 1982, I have seen more than one instance where a new platform was being developed to run on existing hardware. "Platform" can mean just software. I still thing Verb's product will primarily be a software product, at least initially. But they need to work with a hardware program for their software to interface to - I told Rebster a while back what I think they are doing with software; pretty comprehensive and will require years of data collection to get to subsequent release phases. Don't have time to detail it all here at the moment. But if it's what I think it is, it will be very cool!
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