Microsoft is trying to create something with Windows Live that we have all seen before. It was called AOL, and its walled garden philosophy already failed once. Is this concept part of a larger Internet trend?
What is Windows Live?
Windows Live is an web initiative from Microsoft that combines a variety of software and services. Most of them are accessible through your browser. It includes mail, search, calendar, blogging, instant messaging, gaming, event planning, photo sharing, forum discussions, and much more.
With each new version of Windows, the integration with Windows Live becomes more significant. Vista included links to download Live software, and Windows 7 has removed a number of applications from the base OS and instead pushes users to perform those tasks via Windows Live. XBOX Live, Games for Windows Live, and Microsoft Office Live are also being rolled into Windows Live throughout 2009.
The goal appears to be the creation of a Microsoft controlled walled garden. It really conjures up images of America Online, and the whole desire to be just about everything - or at least a miniature-internet of its own. We have been down this road before, and by its end people had a bitter taste in their mouth. One has to wonder why Microsoft thinks it is a good time to revisit this concept.
The Walled Garden
This term was popularized during the heyday of America Online (AOL). AOL sold ads throughout its site, and that eventually became the most profitable area of their business. They sought to maximize ad views by keeping customers on their pages as much as possible. All manner of tools, tricks, scary sounding warnings, and interface design were utilized to make it harder for AOL users to find non-AOL content.
AOL jealously guarded the eyeballs of its customers and did not believe in concepts like external linking or traffic exchanges. These happen to be major concepts that contributed to the Internet's explosive growth. The willingness of most sites to link to other sites with related information - regardless of site ownership - contributed to everyone's traffic expansion. AOL missed out on this phenomenon, while at the same time angering its own customers by spoiling opportunities they should have had to learn more about topics they found interesting. The World Wide Web is founded on links. AOL tried to keep those links internal.
This concept ultimately failed. Unsurprisingly, people do not want web sites or communities they participate in to hide valid content from them simply to exploit them for more ad views. The Internet has a wealth of information and entertainment available, but not if the sites you use prevent you from finding it.