Microsoft last week at Web 2.0 Expo debuted what is arguably their most disruptive announcement in years in a new product called Live Mesh. Live Mesh is an integrative platform whereby a user’s devices are meshed together into a sing-point-of-management platform with distributed and customizable data flow.
These devices will not only be aware of the services available by each but will integrate with online services such as social networking sites, photo and multimedia distribution systems etc.
The potential this has for Microsoft in terms of entrenching it as an untouchably huge market force is frightening as it is exciting. In the 90’s there was buzz surrounding X10 enabled appliances, the idea that smart homes could be made by integrating computer controlled switches into existing appliances.
Live Mesh really updates the promise of this concept by making every gadget part of a mesh - rather than just those with a screen and a modem. With RFID, Bluetooth and a handful of cheap remote sensors the smart kitchen could be deployed for a few hundred bucks using clever programming skills. Alarm clocks that are integrated into your Outlook calendar which is hooked into your phone which is hooked into the Info server on your campus. Or you social network being immediately connected to your phone - a sort of media-hybrid Grand Central where email, txt, voicemail and phoning converge is pretty straightforward with such a platform.
Further the interplay between web mashups and specific hardware devices is hard to miss. Imagine if your epicurious list was aware of what was in your fridge? Or if you Amazon account knew what was already on your shelves? What if your Kindle knew what books your FaceBook friends were reading? What if your iPod downloaded movie previews you’ve talked about on web forums? What if you could price compare between Amazon, eBay, Best Buy and the retailer you’re standing at or be notified of price deals at a store you’re walking by? How about being told about concerts being given by the bands on your iPod at the bar you’re standing in? The list goes on and on.
This could theoretically be enabled through the Live Mesh system. Microsoft is, as I’ve said before, going to remain the market leader in tech. Google may be smart and growing fast - but Microsoft is in territory that Google simply cannot touch. Microsoft has a leading position in the markets containing the most affluent and influential members of society - it literally monopolizes the elite of the world. From business leaders to smartphone users to video gamers, Microsoft is in the top 3.
The also still make the best damned keyboards and mice around.