2005 April 27

Oh great… just great. Spam is hitting Wikis. There goes yet another fantastic resource, right down the drain. Thanks, spammers - we love you! Care to ruin anything else while you're at it? Even those who don't believe in the death penalty are willing to suspend their viewpoints long enough to see you spammers die.

From IP address 213.228.84.58, FWIW. I hope it's not Oilman. What else is left for spammers to ruin?

New Nokia cellphone to challenge MP3 players!
Jake pretty much hit the nail on the head when he stated that MP3 players would eventually disappear and merge with portable phones. Makes total sense - it's the same reason why I “had” to go with a Pocket PC Phone instead of two separate devices. Invariably, I would leave my non-phone Pocket PC at home and take the other device with me. I'm getting ready to chuck the Pocket PC phone, however, because Pocket Outlook (much like its newer desktop cousin) is replete with bugs.
A SmartPhone (Scoblephone?) is a great portable device, but I love having a PDA with the larger screen / form factor, admittedly. I'm looking forward to the Samsung i730, too - but may forego it altogether if I can't find a better Pocket PC email (IMAP) application. I love Nokia phones, but I'm never going to carry a phone that doesn't easily sync with Outlook contacts (been there, done that).

The majority of tomorrow's live three-hour show will be about Longhorn, Avalon, Indigo, et al. Since Robert McLaws is crashing at our pad (a courtesy I wish we could extend to every traveling geek), we decided to capture a rather compelling conversation and share it with the galaxy. I learned a few new things myself, including what I can truly expect to see in Longhorn - and why it may have taken Microsoft so long to get Longhorn out the door. In the meanwhile, I'm actually considering going from Windows XP Pro to Windows Server 2003 (although I'd still like to see valid performance comparisons) - find out why tomorrow night (live at 7PM PST, later available as a WMA or MP3).

My last two entries were originally mistitled, and as such, garnered responses that were largely misdirected. I take no issue with the negative comments, but if you think I was lambasting either Microsoft or WinHEC, you might care to brush up on your reading comprehension skills.
Few people actually understood what I was saying… that I was trying to point out a fact that going to WinHEC made me realize (and subsequently verbalize). WinHEC, itself, is not a problem - and I have no problem with WinHEC (or its auxiliary, PDC). I even went as far as to write that I am *NOT* a developer! Everything I wrote still stands - but depending on which side of the table you sit on, you're going to respond to any of my “Microsoft” assertions differently.
Try this: write something (ANYTHING) about Microsoft. Half of your readers will slap you around for being too supportive of the company, and the other half will slap you around for being too critical of the company… BASED ON THE SAME POST! It's not so much what I write, it's how you project yourself onto what I write.
There are gaping holes in Microsoft's user engagement strategies. If I didn't care, I wouldn't say anything about it. If I didn't want to help, I wouldn't say anything about it. If I didn't think it mattered, I wouldn't say anything about it.

Mick Stanic is possibly best know as one half of the podcasting duo behind G’day World, a highly popular audio show based in Australia. Someday he may be known as co-heir apparent to Rupert Murdoch’s title of Biggest Media Empire Builder Ever Born Of Australia. Mick and his cohort Cameron Reilly are also co-founders of The Podcast Network, a growing empire of top quality amateur audio programming based in Australia. Since launching the Podcast Network in February 2005, the network has quickly amassed 15 shows with more on the way. When he isn’t busy with the next media empire, Mick can be found blogging at SplaTT. Chris caught up with Mick while Stateside for the MSN Search Champs at Microsoft HQ in Redmond.

Continued from Part I.
There's no Microsoft Power User “WinHEC” out there. Microsoft is all about the developer, and seldom seems to cater to the true enthusiasts. There's a loosely-constructed MVP program (of which I am a member, with the Windows Digital Media distinction), but no real company mission to listen to what's going on in the world outside the Microsoft (to use their word) ecosystem.
And because of that, we end up with sloppy, “just good enough” experiences. My earlier post on the pre-beta of Longhorn illustrates my point ENTIRELY. And I'm complaining not for the sake of complaining - I truly, honestly want to make this better for myself and the rest of the world (simultaneously). I've given pages upon pages of valid feedback and ideas to the MSN Search Champs, Featured Community Summit leaders, et al - but the loop needs to be made tighter. I also know the marketing / PR departments aren't going to understand a word I say.
Even as I'm watching the 2005 WinHEC keynote right now (which I downloaded from a fan site, FWIW), I'm screaming at my screen! The Longhorn demonstration was faaaaaar from impressive, and left me NOT wanting more - but wanting to walk away altogether. Instead of watching with awe and wonder, I'm watching with a very confused look on my face. My brow is furrowed, and my fingers are slamming against the keys of my keyboard at this very moment… I'm growing increasingly impatient.
Remember, I consider myself a power user - I'm not a developer.
Arvind Mishra gave a high-level overview of some new features in the OS. First, he shows off a new way of launching Solitaire… yeah, it looked just as great as it did in Windows 3.1. Arvind continues with a joke about the dog in Windows Search no longer being there - and I couldn't hear a single laugh coming from the audience. Why? Because it wasn't funny when the pooch was foisted upon us in XP. Then, Arvind runs through the new Desktop search feature… which is nothing new to me, as I've been happy for months with something already far more elegant. In the “new” Explorer, the thumbnail options are just as ghastly as they have been in previous versions of Windows (what if I don't want to have all my icons enlarged at the same time?). Oh, and I believe the thumbnail image representing folders (or their new paradigm, stacks) really needs to be redone. But I feel that's just the tip of the iceberg.
We won't get to see a lot of the new OS shell features until “Beta 2,” but I fear that half of what would need to be fixed will be “frozen” by that time. Take, for example, the XPize project - oversights fixed by Microsoft's Windows community. I tolerated legacy elements within Windows XP, but I won't be as tolerant with the next version of Windows.
Microsoft? Bring power users in BEFORE you do something - NOT after.

This was my first WinHEC, and I definitely appreciated being invited to certain insider events. It's a great chance to catch up with old friends and meet a few new ones (including those who operate some of my favorite Web resources). I walked away with a 64-bit starter kit of sorts, leaving me with a desire to build a complete 64-bit machine and document the entire experience in video.
WinHEC is a developer's conference, with 2005's event focusing largely on 64-bit computing and the next Windows OS (which will come in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors on the same install disc). The sessions are pretty technical for a reason - this is a very technical audience. As an enthusiast, I was happy to be here. As a Windows user, I was somewhat underwhelmed and overly concerned.
Microsoft's mantra is: “We develop platforms.” That's great, so long as you're a developer. And we've all seen the FANTASTIC products that OEMs create for us to consume, even though 99% of 'em suck. Why? Because, we've got a platform and a set of developers. Isn't the circle complete? No, there's another part. Think about it for a second. You've got the platform, people developing for that platform, now… what about the end user?!
We get ignored, time and time again.
The features we want, we need, we crave - largely ignored if the developer doesn't see the need to do it. So, where do we turn? Who do we turn to? When is somebody going to start listening to power users instead of FOCUS GROUPS?! We're not even in the equation (platform + developers = stuff).
To make matters worse, let me remind you that a developer is not a designer. As such, most of 'em birth user interfaces that are anything but user friendly / elegant. Oh, a program may have functionality out the wazoo, but if it looks like it was assembled by a hungover chimpanzee, nobody really feels compelled to use it. And I fear that it's going to get worse with XAML. When was the last time you visited a Web page that looked like it was slapped together in less than two seconds? Probably by someone who had no design skills, who overused Flash and JavaScript and every other cutesy / froo-froo element they could think of to make your eXPerience “complete.” Yeah, well… it's coming directly to the Windows platform, courtesy of software developers who aren't design experts.
Microsoft should be fostering eXPeriences instead of just developing platforms.
Continued in Part II.