Hello dave_s,
You stated:
> It appears that there is not a clear answer in the "he said / she
> said" P%%%ing contest between RNWK and MSFT. Who wins if this war
> of words and white papers continues? RNWK or MSFT? Neither?
I will predict that we are witnessing something much larger than anyone here seems to understand. The move here is control of consumers ...and literally true psychological "control" of consumers.
And Microsoft is on the verge of a *win* that is much bigger than anyone might imagine.
Microsoft is quickly moving to become a "portal" designed to steer more and more consumers dollars into Microsoft. Start.com is now becoming more and more the goal of Microsoft's success.
dailynews.yahoo.com
When the average consumer fires up a PC, they are going to run Internet Explorer (instead of buying and installing Netscape) ... which now takes them to Start.com ... an environment that they can customize for themselves ... how nice!
But Start.com is "in the net" ... all the customizations are stored at Microsoft ... the beginnings of a profile. Start.com also provides the "base" bookmarks and directory of the consumer. Those who follow what's on their screen will be guided to Microsoft companies and partners ... read the above press release carefully. If a consumer is interested in travel, car sales, investments, news, mail or other communications ... and more recently apartments and real estate ... Microsoft has a company to provide for you. All of the bookmarks guide consumers to "friendly" and convenient Microsoft.
Also, your searches on the web are handled by Start.com ... so everything you search for is stored and indexed ... your profile grows.
This is not a paranoid rant ... this is industry analysis. Look at the acquisition of FireFly ... *very* cool technology to profile individuals and categorize likes and dislikes. Creating new lines of demographics that have nothing to do with physical ... but instead focus on psychological traits.
This is the core interest of Ralph Nader and James Love ...
essential.org
As for their touting of privacy, they indicate three core reasons to track you:
+ To help you quickly find software, services or information on
microsoft.com.
+ To help us create Web site content most relevant to you.
+ To alert you to product upgrades, special offers, updated
information and other new services from Microsoft.
If they know your interests and have a good profile (reason #1 above) then they will know what businesses to purchase or focus on to get your dollars. They will also know what competitors sites you visit, etc.
Microsoft's game has always been abstraction ... and when they can release a media player that becomes the users interface to media, they control the message. Their player will start to provide directories of content, a "channel" knob to flip through media sources ... and those channels will no doubt be biased towards Microsoft companies and partners.
Last night I had a long discussion with some friends in the industry ... I never thought it would be required, but I now see the inevitable break-up of Microsoft. Now I think it needs to happen.
While many are here bickering about the trees, there is a forest that needs to be seen.
Scott C. Lemon |
