Comparable digital whiteboards go for similar (or larger) amounts. $5000 is actually not that expensive.

The real question, is why isn't it free? As in, why can't we just download this from the Play store and use it on whatever we device we already have, like everything else in the G suite?

Microsoft is already moving in this space, not sure about Apple, but I guess there's just a lot of money here.

The build quality is high because it's meant to be touched. Think about it, how often do you touch your TV at home or your monitor? If you're using a Windows 10 all-in-one, you'll likely notice that it's not quite the same as a standard monitor. Now imagine a group of people touching it continuously throughout the day, and instead of gingerly tapping away at it with their fingers, they're treating it like a piece of office furniture. The Jamboard feels like a nice piece of office furniture from Herman Miller vs. something cheap from Costco. It might seem expensive, but you get what you pay for.

The price will more than justify itself for any business that understands the utility of a collaborative whiteboard that seamlessly integrates with the tools they they already use. Plus, it's one of those things that you have to experience to fully understand.

> What am I missing that makes this so expensive?

The price of something is correlated directly with what people are willing to pay for it. I'm 100% certain companies will pay for this. The value proposition is pretty huge for this sort of tech.

Probably better to consider it a piece of high end teleconferencing equipment - at which that price point looks if not "cheap" at least pretty reasonable.

Right? Android device + UHD Screen + a few extra proprietary styluses.