WebTV Now a Microsoft Linchpin nytimes.com
This very interesting. Personally, I never said that the WebTV acquistion didn't make sense, only that I didn't understand what Microsoft was buying, when it seemed they were going to be throwing everything away to go forward with their own stuff. Looks like there was pretty good stuff in development.
Though WebTV Plus Receiver's significance was largely overlooked when it was announced in September, the product has redefined the genre it created. Unlike the original Internet Terminal (which the company now refers to with a twinkle in its eye as "the Classic" and sells, with rebate, for $99), the Plus identifies itself as much with television as it does with the Internet.
WebTV makes perfect sense as a fancy TV guide. I still can't see cruising the internet at 12 lines of text/screen, though, no matter how good the reformatting is. Plus, seems like if more than one person is watching, everyone but the guy with the control will go nuts. Still, I'll have to check it out at the store sometime.
What is worrisome for many in this fledgling industry is that WebTV's adoptive parent, Microsoft, has the largest wingspan and sharpest claws in the ecosystem. Earlier this year, as part of its quest to combine television and Internet access, Microsoft invested $1 billion in the cable company Comcast; it is said to be in talks with other cable leaders.
If WebTV truly catches on, Microsoft would be well poised to extend its dominance over the PC to the most-watched screen in the world: the television.
No comment on that.
Cheers, Dan. |
