Microsoft's Vine takes on Twitter, Facebook and Google
Posted by andreaitis on April 28, 2009
One minute Oprah is the Internet’s new Tweetheart, the next minute hard-core twitterers are grumbling. It’s like when hordes of people invade your favorite secluded beach spot. Usually that means it’s time to find a new favorite secluded beach spot. Enter Microsoft, and a new product called Vine. It’s in early beta testing in Seattle, but it looks like they’ve zeroed in on core needs with the easy messaging of Twitter, the contacts and connections of Facebook, and the local news and Latitude of Google. If it works better than Internet Explorer (a low bar), it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on. Could this be the next big thing?
Vine is designed to keep family and friends in touch when other communication methods are either broken or not particularly efficient. Times of crisis usually involve a breakdown in mobile phone or other key communication infrastructures, and Vine is designed to be as hardy as possible to keep people connected. Vine can be accessed via a desktop client (Windows only for now), text message or email.
So what is it? Vine is a tool keep people connected during a crisis, but it’s also used to for more mundane, everyday tasks. My guess is it will hit a sweet spot with the masses. My parents, for example, are going to love this.
via TechCrunch: Microsoft Vine To Connect Family, Friends When Crisis Hits
de.tech.ting 
mikestigliano said
Lately, the phrase “next big thing” and Microsoft don’t seem to go together, but Vine does look interesting. I’m curious why they are positioning it as a tool to stay connected in a crisis, when it seems like this could be just as useful in everyday life. Maybe its their strategy for breaking through the noise and differentiating in a crowded marketplace. In any case, I look forward to testing it when it becomes available.
Brian In NYC said
Sounds like an effort at a trillian style app for social networking. While on the surface trillian seemed like a good idea it often was a major pain in ass, especially when one system was updated and suddenly your trillian software wouldn’t support yahoo, or AIM, or whomever. I don’t see emergency preparedness as a big selling point
andreaitis said
I agree, Brian, I don’t think it’ll fly on the emergency angle alone. But it does look to wrap in some components that make it valuable for your close circle of family and friends. As Facebook and Twitter get bigger and bigger, that’s what’s missing: a way to communicate effectively with a smaller group that takes advantage of new tech like location.
The best scenario, perhaps, is if Vine could work as an overlay for my Facebook and Twitter communities. Who wants to re-build a community? If Microsoft can solve the ‘lazy’ problem, it’s a huge step forward.
Brian In NYC said
The truth of the matter is I believe the next great push on the social networking from will be hardware driven, not on the software side. We really need that next great step in handheld computing power. As fond as I am of my blackberry, and my iPhone buds are hooked on their device we’re still not there yet.
andreaitis - de.tech.ting - Google Wave vs Microsoft Vine: Who wins the Next Big Thing contest? - True/Slant said
[…] then I remembered another recent announcement, from another big gig company: Microsoft Vine, blending Twitter, Facebook and Google in its own attempt to be the Next Big […]