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Sorry but, in my world, MSN Search = I don't care

Perhaps I'll lose a little bit of my geek credibility with this post but, so be it.

I just can't bring myself to care at all about all the latest "search" stuff to come out of Microsoft. Whether it's the MSN Search Beta (sorry I don't even care enough to link to the page), or the new "MSN Search Bar" (or whatever they're calling it)...I.just.don't.care.*

The reason for my apathy is two-fold really. First, I generally don't feel the insatiable need to go check out every single little "thing" I read about on the two hundred something blogs I read. Google is still my home page. One-click on the Firefox icon and I've already got my "search tool" in front of me ready to go. Google has never failed me in finding what I wanted whether it be images or text or anything else so I don't feel inclined to even check out an alternative to something that isn't broken, in my opinion. Heck, it finds MSDN content better than the search on MSDN's home page.

Second, Microsoft (or "MSN") isn't doing anything interesting or new, as far as I can tell. They're coming out with a new search engine? Wow...good job...you're only about 5 to 10 years late. At least Google is making waves by doing stuff BEFORE everyone else. Their search engine was kicking years ago. So was/is their Newsgroups search tool. So was GMail (notice how Hotmail follows up by increasing 2MB to 250MB...WEAK), so is their new "Google Suggest" thing. I don't think I've ever personally seen such blatant "let's try to keep up" efforts at Microsoft to follow a single company like they've been with Google. What's next? A Microsoft "Suggest" search page or Hotmail increasing their storage to 2GB? Maybe Microsoft sponsored or text ads? Why don't they just buy Google already and get it over with.

It's also funny to me that Microsoft made the XmlHttp component, yet Google is who's put it to work brilliantly.

* (I must admit, I followed a link to Channel 9 to what I thought might be a real quick demo/explanation of the MSN Desktop Search bar, but after about 5 minutes of  "so who are you? What do you do here at Microsoft? and 100 more sentences starting with "So..." I just closed the window. Hint to Scoble and anyone else that films this footage: get a good editor to cut down the footage to just the interesting stuff. If I want to know who it is you're filming and what their job title is, etc. let me READ it. Put it in text on the page so I have the option of skipping it if I don't care.)

10 Comments

  • My home page is about:blank, even faster than google.



    MSN Search ... lol



    Using a site search with google on MSDN is top notch.

  • Thanks for the feedback about the videos. I, as a rule, try not to edit. It removes the believeability. The videos probably aren't for you. They are for people who want to know as much about the team and the product as possible. I want the experience to be as close as possible to just coming in and having a chat with the team. If I edit that all down it totally changes what it's about.



    That's why their marketing team does a Web site as well -- so that people who don't have the 50 minutes to spend can get the facts quickly and efficiently about the product.



    By the way, there ARE tons of people who are interested enough to sit through a demo like this. My wife runs webcasts for MSDN. They are almost always an hour. Yet sometimes she has thousands of people in the room watching.

  • Robert,

    I've found a lot of the video's on Channel 9 interesting...I just care more about what the people have to say, not really who they are and what they do (especially when it's not related to the subject of the video)...I like to watch as many Ch. 9 vid clips as I can but, when I'm busy during the day, getting as much info from them in as little time possible is a big factor. For example...the video for the MSN search thing is 52 minutes. That's my entire lunch hour...



    Maybe another video clip that's just the meat of the subject (5 to 10 minutes of the demo of the new tool) would be valuble.



    What's the marketing teams' website, btw?

  • I don't know about "Best. Tool. Ever." but, yeah, it's pretty sweet...that's why I mentioned it in my post ;)

  • Also, I just timed the introductions. They were about two minutes out of the 50-minute video. Were you watching the Silicon Valley one? That's the one that has the demo and is decent after you get a couple of minutes into it.

  • Thanks for the link Robert....that site had the info I wanted, rather than the Ch. 9 video.



    guess it's just a matter of finding the right location that gives you what you want.



    Still think you could offer "alternate" clips of some of the vids on Ch. 9 though...certain sections only or something maybe.



    I'm sure that stuff takes a lot of your time already as it is though. Just a thought.

  • I think the big deal from today is the fact that they've included desktop search as part of the toolbar. Sure, they're copying Google here, but it does look like a useful tool. Of course, this wouldn't have been needed if the existing search capabilities within Windows and Outlook were better.

  • Robert,

    Yes, I was watching the Silicon Valley one. I think it was about 5 minutes into it when I felt like they hadn't shown the meat of the features yet and closed it. The marketing teams website showed all the features I cared to see though, so that satisfied what little curiosity I had. Thanks.

  • >> I don't think I've ever personally seen such blatant "let's try to keep up" efforts at Microsoft to follow a single company like they've been with Google <<



    Um, hello Netscape (IE)? What about Java (.NET)? And Cold Fusion (ASP)? Dude, it's Microsoft's business model to do what they're doing. :)

  • Darrell,

    Although I don't want to turn this into a anti-fan-boy-bash-fest or anything...I figured it was just common knowledge that Microsoft made all those copies you mentioned. I'm just trying to say...usually Microsoft makes what they copy "BETTER" than the original. The copying of Google's stuff doesn't seem to be any better at all. I feel like .NET is better than Java in many regards, same with ASP to CF and IE to Netscape. I guess time will tell but, I don't get the feeling they can out-do Google at their own game.

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