Microsoft’s vision for a “next-gen newspaper” looks like TweetDeck
The Newspaper Association of America cast a wide net this summer in seeking proposals for generating online revenue. Their request went out to many of the firms we’ve been covering closely but also several tech companies that aren’t exactly in the thick of the news industry, including Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle.
I thought there was big news in Google’s response, but most of the big-name replies amounted to a glorified catalog of existing services — in other words, lip service. Oracle and IBM discussed content management systems that have been on the market for years. Microsoft’s response was similar, but it also included an intriguing screen shot of an unreleased product it calls the “Next-Generation Newspaper.”
[UPDATE, 3:43 p.m.: Two commenters point out that Microsoft's screenshots depict an existing program called Sobees. I'm checking with Microsoft for some clarity. Wednesday, 7 a.m.: Rainer Kellerhals, a Microsoft spokesman, clarifies that the user interface was developed with Sobees to demonstrate Microsoft's ideas about aggregating and monetizing news and information. He says it "does not show a current or future Microsoft product." I've added some other information below.]
As you can see in the image above (larger version), the concept bears a close resemblance to TweetDeck, the application of choice for power users of Twitter and other social networks. It’s just taking TweetDeck to its logical conclusion, pulling in RSS feeds, photos, and video from news providers and placing all that content alongside your friends’ status updates on Facebook and Twitter. Think of it as a surging river of news spilling over its banks. Microsoft describes the concept this way:
The Next-Generation Newspaper is the user’s information hub, aggregating content from different sources and matching it to the user’s profile, preferences, and context (situation). It is accessible from any device, both online and offline, and helps the user to navigate the content universe through search, links, and recommendations. Content and audiences are monetized through pay-for-content and advertising.
Whether anyone wants all their information in one application is an open question, though it would be unfair to judge Microsoft’s vision based on a screenshot and some promotional text. Rainer Kellerhals, a spokesman for Microsoft, described their next-generation newspaper as a “concept” but said it “currently exists as a slide deck and a high-level reference architecture, with pilot implementations under way at some pilot customers.” Kirsten Roach, an account manager for Microsoft who produced the company’s response to the NAA, told me that an announcement related to the next-generation newspaper could be made at the end of this month.
While these details are emerging from Microsoft’s response to the NAA, it’s hard to see this product doing much for newspapers, next-generation or otherwise. The whole point seems to be drawing content from a broad array of sources and disassociating it from point of origin — the same issues already troubling most newspaper companies. And I found it mildly amusing, though also heartening, that Microsoft’s screenshots include streams from, among other rivals, Google’s YouTube and Yahoo’s Flickr.
What’s clear, particularly in the screenshot below (larger version), is that news providers will share just a small slice of the content that people choose to consume. The particulars of Microsoft’s interface aside, that seems like a realistic vision.
UPDATE, Wednesday, 7 a.m.: In an email, Kellerhals shared some of the ideas that the next-generation newspaper is intended to demonstrate:
Making available (and monetizing) individual content elements (articles, images, videos) which today are aggregated into newspapers, giving the customer more choice over what she/he wants to read, and which source he/she prefers. At the same time, many readers will still be interested in getting a “news overview”, i.e. editorially selected, prioritized and organized content.
Acknowledging that “editorial” and “social” content will co-exist and may complement each other. In traditional newspapers, the “letters to the editor” can only be published the day after or days after the article they refer to, “disconnecting” them from the original article; in online media, readers’ comments become part of a dialogue on the subject discussed in the article, providing more insight and additional perspectives on the subject.
People use computers to quickly find information, but they tend to prefer the print reading experience over the on-screen reading experience. Ideally, future news media will combine the readability and portability of print media with the accessibility of online media.
My initial reaction to this was from the gut. “Microsoft? Umm, no thanks.” I think MS is going to have problems with many users, because they’ve blown it so badly in the past.
When I was young, my first cars were American. Total crap; often in the repair shop. Then I bought my first Japanese car; seldom anything went wrong. To this day I can’t bring myself to buy an American car (GM, Ford, Chrysler), even if they’ve improved.
I used Windows PCs for over a decade. I got so sick of the clunkiness, slow start-ups, security risks, viruses, etc. that I can’t imagine going back. (My wife was recently forced to for a new job; she curses a lot now.)
This is not meant to start a Mac/PC debate. But a quick first look at Google Fast Flip made me think: “This is being developed by some smart UI experts and designers.” My reaction to the image above: “They should hire a UI expert and a top designer to work on this.”
In reference to Mr. Outing comments above, I am similarly turned off by the thought of Microsoft “innovation”, but this Next-Gen Newspaper looks to be on the right track. The concept definitely needs to be extended, but a Tweet-Deck style news aggregator could develop into a proper collector of info. Kudos to Microsoft for taking a risk and jumping into this need in the early stages.
For information, the screenshots in this post are coming from an application called sobees http://www.sobees.com
Please give to Cesar what is owned by Cesar :-)
Twitter is already my morning paper. This is definitely a copycat. Typical of MS.
Dear Mr Seward,
As an enthusiastic user of the products of Sobees (especially their fantastic Twitter and Facebook client bDule), I am truly apalled by your lack of professionalism. Publishing the pictures of a product and mentioning another product is not acceptable. Imagine if an article talked about BMWs and published a picture of a Mercedes Benz? Both are good products, but the confusion is really terrible. I think you should correct your article or at least publish an amendment, and give the correct credentials to Sobees.
Thanks,
Laurent Bugnion
Thanks for noting that, Vincent and Laurent. I’ve updated the post and am checking with Microsoft to see what’s up. The screenshots are contained in their response to the NAA and a slide deck that was provided to me, neither of which credit Sobees. —Zach
HA The 2nd screenshot has videos “Apple iPhone Sucks” and “Microsoft iPod”. There may be more, but that’s all I can make out with my old eyes.
As two commentators have already pointed it out that these are the screenshots of Sobees I think you must also edit the post to reflect this more appropriately.
For instance, Tweetdeck came later than Sobees so it’s just not right saying that Microsoft is doing something aping Tweetdeck. The development of bNews and other application by Sobees was slow but all of them do pretty good job considering they are still alpha like. Not much has really improved since I used it last time but I have always believed that this application is promising. The newspaper layout of bNews is quite functional and I love it for that. I reviewed this application an year back at http://www.realgeek.com/bnews-reviewed-it-aggregates-news-for-you-almost/
One of its developers also commented on my review that they are working on enhancing the application.
Okay, I just found that they have discontinued their bNews application and are rather focusing on creating apps leveraging on real time and social networks. Pretty Cool.
Seems like tweetdeck, eh?
“The whole point seems to be drawing content from a broad array of sources and disassociating it from point of origin — the same issues already troubling most newspaper companies.”
That’s a trend gathering momentum so strongly that it can hardly be resisted.
It looks more like Netvibes to me.
The point is it may be an information hub, but information is not the same as journalism….