« aSmallWorld Update |
Main
| Alex Williams Joins Corante »
December 02, 2004
Microsoft Prepares to Enter Blogosphere: MSN Spaces
Posted by Stowe Boyd
Microsoft is rumored to be has announced it is launching a blog service this week, MSN Spaces:
Mary Jo Foley
[from
MSN Readies New Blogging Service]
MSN is expected to tout MSN Spaces as a direct competitor to blog-creation and hosting tools, such as Blogger, Blog*Spot, LiveJournal and TypePad. Microsoft also will position MSN Spaces as a way to allow users to more easily share photo albums and music lists, too, insiders said.
Some users have been speculating that MSN will allow users to post to their blogs via MSN Messenger 7, the latest version of Microsoft's consumer instant-messaging client, which is in beta now and due to ship in early 2005.
In August, MSN launched a beta version of its blogging tool for the Japanese market only. At that time, MSN officials declined to discuss when and if they planned to broaden the beta to other countries. MSN officials said they considered the MSN Spaces beta as "an incubation project."
No surprises, I guess.
It will be interesting to see if this is an area where Microsoft will be a juggernaut, or whether the established players like SixApart and Google, can hold to first mover advantages.
Are blogs too sticky for people to switch based on a few moderately interesting additional features? Although I am mad about IM, I personally have few contacts using MSN, so that feature, which in principle interests me, won't work because of the interoperability mess that people like Microsoft allow to persist.
It may well be that blog technology will turn out to be a market where Microsoft doesn't have an in. Close integration with Office, Outlook, Live Meeting, Sharepoint, Live Communication Server and (most interesting, I think) OneNote could play well in the enterprise space, however. The Dark Side of the Blogosphere -- behind the corporate firewall -- is a huge and really untapped play. Companies like Silkroad, Traction, and others that have been gearing up for a market shift to blogs will now have to contend with the 800 lb gorilla who wants all those bananas.
I will try to get a demo as soon as possible, and let you know.
[pointer via Renee Blodgett via Bill Ives]
Comments (2)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Technology
- RELATED ENTRIES
- › Reminder -- /Message
- › /Message - A New Blog
- › The Individual Is The New Group -- Part 1
- › 1000 Tags: Tag Advertising
- › Social Ethics And Technology Design
- › Nancy Hass on In Your Facebook.com
- › Black and White and Dead All Over: Is Newsprint Dead?
- › Anonymous Trolls, Beware: You Are Breaking Federal Laws
1. Bill Ives on December 2, 2004 02:27 PM writes...
Another barrier to switching to Microsoft comes from the URL link issue. You may have included this is the stickness question. Bloggers like me who not smart enough to get a generic URL will lose all their links if they switch software. This has become a potential barrier for me and others have commented on it to me. I how advise everyone to start with a generic URL.
Permalink to Comment2. John T. Maloney on December 5, 2004 09:48 PM writes...
Hi --
SharePoint has a token blog Web part.
http://kmcluster.sharepointsite.com/Cluster/
The functionality is very thin, but the the Web part architecture and integration could be construed by some as (eventually) an advantage.
Cordially,
John
John Maloney
T: 415.902.9676
ID: http://public.2idi.com/=john.maloney
Create the Future! Join the KM Cluster
Action/Research Calendar:
Atlanta - Social Networks: http://www.kmcluster.com/atl/
New England - Social Enterprise: http://www.kmcluster.com/bos
New York - Sharing Knowledge: http://www.kmcluster.com/nyc/
Denver - Intangibles: http://www.kmcluster.com/den/
London - IC Metrics: http://www.kmcluster.com/lon/
KM Cluster Blog: http://kmcluster.sharepointsite.com/Cluster/
Event Workspaces: http://www.kmcluster.com/Conversation.htm
Permalink to Comment