comments inline

"- Bobb -" <bobb[at]netscape.net> wrote in message
news:elywYhIdGHA.564[at]TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
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With MSN? Well, maybe in the sense that business "users" are advertisers.

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I can't say whether it would fly. I'd hope that consumers would reject it
totally. But I'm not entirely sure this is true. I try never to
misunderestimate how the "average" user can abused.

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Not much argument here. But my prime concern would be abusive targeted
marketing and having 100% control over my data.

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Whoever has money and can be interested in the product. I don't think
adCenter is aimed at us consumers. I don't know much about Windows Live; to
the extent this includes stuff like security services, I'd suspect they'll
target the consumer.

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Can't say for Windows Live. For MSN, I think they will keep expanding the
envelope 'til they find something for everyone. That's tehir goal anyway.
It's back to the cable TV analogy. Do they really care what it is they put
on? Hell, no. It's all just honey to atttract progressively smaller bee
colonies.

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From my tries, Microsoft search is useless. I almost always go to google
next and get better reuslts. Even when the subject is, as is frequent for
me, something to do with Microsoft stuff. But sooner or later they'll get a
clue. I don't see the "built in" IE issue you see, but I know the
underpinnings let you wire it away from MSN if you want to. I do think
taking OUT the toolbar extensibility was aimed straight at Yahoo/Google.
Ironic, isn't it? For years people have given Microsoft crap for all of the
extensibility stuff because it leads to things like Windows integration and
security exposures. Then they remove an extensibility hook and there's great
outrage.

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"Dick Watson" <littlegreengecko[at]mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote in
message news:uaHvtorcGHA.2188[at]TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
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Hi Dick, (where'd you get that email/alias ? )

I did read the blog and although I've read before that this is were they
WANT to head ...doesn't MS aim primarily at the business user ? We've
spoken before about the MS biz model and I know your side of it, and
kind of agree - but - having gotten the industry from mainframe/dumb
terminal to client/server, do you think the customers really want to now
go back to terminal services ? So Money 200x ( and others) would be an
online app ? With MS as the mainframe !! Do you think that would fly ?
Given a choice, I'd much rather have Larry Ellison's netPC concept. (
which is where Mr Gates came up with the idea) At least Oracle
understands how to handle lots of data. Even though he's pretty
obnoxious, I would trust Oracle to keep the site up and running ( And
they'd use HP / EMC etc not Windows )

"...He ( Ballmer) said the company will invest $1.1 billion in MSN and
$6.2 billion in research and development, and that the company will push
adoption of its MSN adCenter and Windows Live services....",

"will push adoption " upon who(m) ? I (and a lot of folks I know)
have never used MSN and although I've seen Windows Live (and I do like
local.live.com) , and where they want to go, I think that their primary
target is offline users - business people who generally are not online
24x7. Do you think that they're gonna toss that model assuming ( maybe
with wifi) that everyone will be online all the time ? BTW I only use
Portfolio related part of Money so I don't see ads there now.

as for:

Ballmer: Microsoft's Search Engine Makes Big Gains

Same thing - I have never used IE SEARCH and right now - it's BUILT INTO
IE. Generally MS tries to throw a wrench into their code to trip up the
competition ( like they did with IE/Netscape compatability, Sun java).
I'll stay with Google ( or Yahoo) unless/until they slow down
significantly.

For these reasons I haven't bought MSFT stock. I do like the new Office
model. I WAS thinking about it - thinking that Vista is coming , but
unless/until big biz buys into it I don't see the $$ flowing into MSFT's
bank account. I think Vista (with its aerowindows) may be a hit with
retail consumers but that's a tiny bit of their income.

Bobb

Borrowed from
http://www.windowsitpro.com/windowsp...ott_50213.html.

[Ballmer] said the company will invest $1.1 billion in MSN and $6.2 billion
in research and development, and that the company will push adoption of its
MSN adCenter and Windows Live services. ... "Our number one priority is
software as a service."

Remembering that Money falls in the MSN family of ever-amorphous vehicles to
attract eyeballs to ads, draw your own conclusions.