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What is up with Microsoft Labs? RRS feed

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    I have to ask, why are kick ass cool websites like AdCenter and Photosynth centralized on a website called Microsoft labs?  You want to compete with Google yet you continue to place your most impressive beta applications on this little known website called Microsoft Labs!  AdCenter and Photosynth belong on Microsoft's live.beta.com and if it's not in beta, then just don't show these sites until you're ready to go beta!

     

    Point is, Google tends to throw betas out there immediately (or appears to be immediate as they hide it rather than throw it off to the side on a labs site like MS does)...and promote them in a centralized location that does not have a business looking template!

     

    So the problem with MS, is approach to exposure and centralization of new apps in terms of exposing and promoting them!  I would think that your live.com site gets way more hits from yoru target market than Labs and again apps as good as these are breaking the mold and good enough to compete with Google's show and tell!  Why would you want to take the careful approach by placing these 2 apps and others that are amazing like this on a website coined Labs when teenagers or people who are looking for the coolest toys out there are not going to first think of going to a geeky labs site!

     

    Marketing, you have this all wrong...stragically.  Also, Live.com needs a redo on the graphics.  The graphics aer ingenious except you're missing the wow.  Look at Google, does their website graphics look like a damn business template like yours?  You need to break out of the blue color also and experiment more in colors.  I think the live.com site should have styles like you see in Photosynth's website!  Blue has been Microsoft's trademark color from the beginning but I'm tired of seeing it as a customer!

     

    I have more common sense opinions if you want them for your creative initiatives.   I look at your maps site on live.com and the header on that page screems business template, not the "cool" factor that you need... bores me!

     

    Dave

     

    C# Software Engineer

    (who also loves graphics)...rare to find this but true

    Wednesday, June 20, 2007 9:04 PM

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    interesting statement. I think the problem is because Microsoft don't innovate anymore. 

     

    If they haven't managed to aquire a product (which due to recent bad forecasting which caused them to miss the big opportunities; google and vmware), then they're stuck trying to catchup by cloning other market leaders -  who aren't stuck using microsoft code, such as the slow SRS reports showing me how much my cost per click is.

     

    Too many big original IT (or BT) companies are now spending too much time (imho) trying to get royalties or comfortable revenue from licensing in developed markets, rather than innovate - which is good for the upcomming players, I guess.

     

     

    Wednesday, September 12, 2007 8:51 PM
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    I agree with you Dave, I am also a programmer and think their approach is wrong.

    Although I hope they keep the adcenterlabs name, because I am the owner of the adcenterlabs [D o t] com domain.

    Their site should have been there instead of: something [D o t] msn or microsoft [D o t] com
    Thursday, September 27, 2007 4:50 PM