After seeing Microsoft's announcements earlier this week about its brand building efforts for digital media and home entertainment, I was interested in what this meant for the future of technology. We're all well aware of Microsoft's capability for taking over a market, and in terms of leisure spend - both time and money - there is probably nothing bigger than getting control of the living room.
Imagine if one company can get into your living room, and help control your television, video, audio and computing systems. Imagine the direct power they would have; imagine the control they could exercise over the broad span of culture and leisure activities.
In the PC market, Microsoft have managed to become massively successful by knocking out both the hardware manufacturers and the software providers out of the equation. In the home entertainment market, however, they are likely to have serious competition from those content producers (including broadcasters, music labels, etc) and hardware manufacturers (TV sets, VCRs, digital cameras etc) who might well be classed as MS "allies" at the moment, but aren't prepared to give up their slice of the home entertainment pie.
So what will be the key battlegrounds in the war for control of the home?
Security: To say that security has never been MS's strong suit is an understatement: but if computing hooks up to home entertainment, take whatever problems afflict your home computer and then multiply them tenfold. Microsoft - and anyone else making a play for the home market - has to prove that they can protect you better than they do now. After all: imagine your kids are watching and then some porn spam manages to broadcast straight down your tube. That's not going to be a nice feeling.
Stability: When I stretch my PC too much, it gives me the blue screen of death. When I'm in full flow on my Mac, it can't handle the load. People accept this problem with computing, but they're not likely to be so forgiving. Imagine if your TV crashed and took two minutes to reboot. It's not something people are going to be happy with.
Trust: Unlike home computing, Microsoft isn't going into an infant market with home entertainment; there are already a large number of trusted providers in both content and hardware. Whoever takes control of the market will need to recognise that. For example, some people already have incredible brand loyalty to the likes of Sony. So what happens if Sony decide to take on Microsoft? A battle that's far bigger than anything Bill Gates has come across before, that's what.
It's going to be a fascinating battle; watch this space.
