dive into mark

New York Times: Microsoft Has Shelved Its Internet ‘Persona’ Service [via Slashdot: Microsoft Gives Up on Hailstorm]

“we’re sort of in the Hegelian synthesis of figuring out where the products go once they’ve encountered the reality of the marketplace,” said Charles Fitzgerald, Microsoft’s general manager for platform strategy.

Everybody hated it.

Industry executives said the caution displayed by consumer giants like American Express and Citigroup illuminated a bitter tug of war being fought over consumer information by some of the largest financial and information companies.

Companies that already traffic in consumer information didn’t like the idea of Microsoft invading their turf.

“They ran into the reality that many companies don’t want any company between them and their customers,” said David Smith, vice president for Internet services at the Gartner Group.

This is going to be a problem for web services in general. If you’re serving original data, great; if you’re trying to set yourself up as a middleman, watch out. Google has original data to offer; Microsoft does not.

§

Respond privately

I am no longer accepting public comments on this post, but you can use this form to contact me privately. (Your message will not be published.)

§