Software giant shifts strategy, hints at move toward player software

On the eve of the Multimedia PC (MPC) launch (slated for early next month), it appears that Microsoft — which to date has been a staunch public supporter of the pc-based multimedia paradigm — is considering a shift in strategy toward the consumer market.

Though Microsoft now says it has always considered the consumer market a possibility, it has only publicly committed to the computer-based multimedia market via the MPC and Multimedia Extensions to Windows.

During a meeting in late August discussing the shipment of Windows with Multimedia Extensions to developers, Rob Glaser, general manager of the Microsoft multimedia systems group, said that Microsoft is now more closely evaluating the possibility of supplying system software for the consumer player market now being developed by companies such as Sony, Philips. Apple, which recently started a consumer division, is thought to be preparing such a product as well (see Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 5).

“What we were saying privately, when asked about the consumer market, was ‘Later,’” said Glaser. “Now that MPC is about to ship, we are looking in a pretty active way at how the technology you see in Multimedia Windows, with some additional hardware, can play in sub-pc configurations — more than we were looking at it a year ago, and even more than we were six months ago.”

Modifying the pc-centric approach. Until now, Microsoft has viewed multimedia as a means of getting personal computers into the home. The “consumer” (presumably hand-held and/or television-oriented) multimedia player has been treated as the competition. Publicly, Microsoft said the consumer would buy either a multimedia computer or a multimedia “player” — not both.

It appears that’s no longer the case. “There’s a bunch of stuff you can do better than [Compact Disc-Interactive, or CD-I] that’s compatible with Multimedia Windows,” said Glaser. “We don’t make hardware, so we can work with people who do make hardware.”

But the hardware is only one part of the consumer equation; the content is different as well. Most people now believe that multimedia applications for the computer market will differ significantly in function from those for the TV-plus-player market targeted by companies such as Philips with CD-I and Commodore with CDTV.

Information vs. entertainment. Computer-based applications for multimedia are more likely to be centered around the delivery of information, such as media-enhanced versions of dictionaries, books and encyclopedias. TV/player combinations are likely to be more heavily entertainment-oriented, using full-screen, full-motion video and targeted toward game-style applications.

Apple, which had originally pursued a computer-centric strategy, recently switched to a “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach. Rather than being incompatible rivals, consumer multimedia players and multimedia computers should be compatible and should be able to play the same titles. (See “Apple vs. Microsoft,” Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 7.) Now it appears that Microsoft is (wisely) heading in the same direction.

Possible partners. Who might be Microsoft’s potential hardware partners for a consumer player? Tandy is an obvious choice. Tandy, which is announcing the shipment of its MPC-labeled computer on September 26th, is Microsoft’s lead partner in establishing the MPC standard, not to mention the largest consumer electronics company in the U.S.

Equally interesting is Microsoft’s connection to Philips. Though Philips is expected to ship the first CD-I boxes in October, the Dutch consumer electronics giant is also known to be making MPC-labeled computers.

Though Philips has invested mega-millions of dollars into developing both titles and players based on the CD-I specification, “hedge-the-bets” is an increasingly common strategy in the multimedia world. Philips may well consider using Multimedia Windows as the foundation for a consumer player that’s incompatible with CD-I to foil possible consumer rejection of its own standard.

Laptops and video. Another area of potential growth for Microsoft is laptop computers, devices already small enough to be considered “players” of sorts –especially if plug-and-play connection to a television is provided.

One possible sticking point in such a strategy might be that Multimedia Windows does not yet support full-screen, full-motion video, widely considered a requirement for a successful consumer player. And basing a consumer player on Multimedia Windows, which is essentially a set of system extensions to support sound, animation, images and limited motion video, may yield a slow device that’s as unattractive to consumers as most CD-ROM-based titles are today.

In any case, the ramifications of Microsoft’s change of heart are fascinating to consider. If the company develops a specification for a consumer player in the same way that it did for the MPC, it’s very likely that many computer companies, already signed on for the MPC, will follow suit.

The result could well be a large number of players on the market based on a single, well-known operating system standard — a concept that is likely to intoxicate a large number of titles developers and producers, and that could even attract developers that had not before considered the potential of a consumer market.

Denise Caruso