Apr
24
More Screen Shots Available Here
Microsoft has finally unveiled it’s plans for Live Mesh and I honestly can’t remember the last time I have seen people so excited about a Microsoft product. At first pass the concepts seem interesting, full access to your files through the Internet. What Microsoft hopes will set this service apart is the claim that users will be able to access these files even when their machines are turned off. They all so plan to allow file sharing, allowing friends and family to easily swap content.
Sounds Great, Why Shouldn’t I Be Excited?
The problem is, Microsoft is up against many already established competitors in this space and the tech demos at first glace fail to inspire. Some services that come to mind are GoToMYPC and even Microsoft’s own Skydrive. Skydrive and services like it are most likely to have a broader appeal since it’s service resembles a virtual USB key who’s contents can be accessed anywhere you have an Internet connection. I suppose my main problem with the whole idea is that users who are advanced enough to need or want this kind of solution have better options and most likely a laptop PC. It’s unlikely the average user with one computer at home and one at the office would want to share files in this fashion. More over, it’s doubtful IT administrators would even allow it’s use.
As hard as I try, I just can’t seem to figure why mesh would be better then a USB thumb drive. With crashing prices for flash memory and thumb drive capacities already exceeding 64 Gb your files can be more securely and quickly accessed then ever before. Online storage services such as Jungledisk answer my current needs for affordable online storage but every time I use it I become aware of it’s limitations. Broadband Internet is far too slow to work with anything other then text documents. Since all technological advances are relative, even as broadband Internet speeds improve files sizes will continue to balloon at the same rate. A quick review of my digital photos alone shows my shots in 2002 were less then 100k, only 6 short years later my average file size is around 2,500k with a mid range point and shoot.
It will likely be a long time before the Internet catches up with this type of pipe dream. The demands on Internet bandwidth along with wide scale adoption of this idea would bring ISP’s to their knees. Internet service providers have their hands full just trying to figure out how to keep up with the demands of Bit Torrent and HD video content. More then ever before, the infrastructure of the Internet is being put to the test. I can’t help but wonder why Microsoft believes this is the right time to start uploading the contents of everyone’s hard drives?
I wish I could be more optimistic but based on what we know so far, it’s hard to get excited about this one.
I suppose we will have to wait and see.
Still don’t really understand this. Their communication is too “cloudy”