In the Meh-sh
So it seems the fruits of Ray Ozzie's labour at Microsoft are starting to appear in public at last. And I for one say "Your point being...?" I'd love to link to their blog at this point to let them explain it, but it seems that their .live.com server is knackered at the moment. Bodes well for the mesh service doesn't it?
Apparently it's a platform that is designed to put me at the centre of my digital world. Oh good. I thought I was already at their centre, what with them not being sentient yet and me being the owner of all these devices, but who knew.
I'm fairly sure I've heard something like this from Microsoft before, and I'm fairly sure it got laughed at back then too.
So on a supported device, I need to install a client and I can share folders full of files with myself. Or with other people. And even sign up to RSS feeds and aggregate them into one or two big custom RSS feeds.Wow. I've never been able to do that before *ahem*. And I can even send them messages, in an instant. It's good to see Microsoft launch a new product instead of rebadging old stuff... or not so much.
I'm so super-psyched to share applications and data between my work computer (oh wait... my employer might not want me installing unapproved software. Or putting their data on devices they don't own.) and my mobile devices (oh wait, where's the iPod client? Where's the iPhone client? Where's the Symbian client? Where's the god help us Zune and Windows Mobile clients?) and my home computer (uh... no wait, no Mac client yet. No word of a Linux client at all).
This lack of support for other devices is a big serious Elephant in the living room. Don't underestimate the platform problem: Unless it supports all the devices that a user might reasonably be expected to want to use with it then it isn't solving my problems or your problems, it's solving the problems of some hypothetical marketing construct that doesn't exist in the real world.
The support for other "real" operating systems is obvious, but you might think I'm being a bit silly asking for iPod, Zune and phone support but consider this: Why shouldn't I be able to lot onto my handheld device and download a file from my home PC via this 'mesh'? Wouldn't that actually be really helpful if you're driving to a meeting and realise you've left important data behind? Wouldn't it be great to stop for coffee somewhere and use 3G or wireless connections to grab the file onto your mobile phone without much hassle?
Or what if I want to Sync / add contacts or diary entries between my phone, my exchange server account at work and my online web2.0 calendar? Or to hear a song while I'm out and about, ask my home computer to buy it for me (so it will be securely stored and backed up and stuff) then download it via this 'mesh' to my music player or to push it onto my phone ready to select as a ringtone.
So it's client software that lets me send messages and files between computers, as long as those computers run Microsoft operating systems and I'm allowed to install software and to share the data that is on them and aren't behind a firewall that kicks the Microsoft client to the kerb. Good luck with that). That can't be it. I mean I've heard so much about how earth-shatteringly new this is, there must be more to it. (There is also some more reasoned analysis here that isn't either the fanboyism in the stuff I've linked to or a cynical git laughing at it all like me, if you're interested).
Oh, apparently I can actually log onto my " Live Desktop" and access any of my "meshed" devices from any other "meshed" device. So I could be sitting at work and gotomypc at home... er I mean Go Back To My Ma...er..PC. So what we've got here is "Groove.net Live!" plus Messenger, plus being able to get to your PC anywher.. ok I'll stop joking about their "original" remote desktop feature now. OopsI did it again!
Of course, it's all sprayed with a veneer of XML and RSS to keep it sounding fresh and "Web 2.0" and so-on. I guess that makes the difference. It isn't the technology that's new, it's the packaging!
As ever with a lot of web 2.0 stuff, I find myself asking: What problem does this actually solve and does anyone in the real world outside of the 250 people who hang on to every word posted on valleywag actually have this problem? I mean don't get me wrong, if they solve the platform problem then it might be nice to get all these various things rolled up into one handy tool, but there isn't really anything new or even exciting here. Is there?