Microsoft To Shut Down MSNTVMicrosoft is shuttering its MSN TV service, formerly WebTV, on Sept. 30, 2013, the company announced on its Website and in an email to current customers. Microsoft acquired WebTV Networks in 1997 for $425 million.I heard the news about this and felt a little bummed. I purchased a WebTV box back in 1997, since computers were still a bit expensive for my tastes back then. For its time it was a great experience to surf the net. Turn on the box and you're greeted by an animated road approaching a big city as the unit dials in to the nearest network number in your vicinity, bringing you to a concise and neat home page where you can find news, weather, and quick links to youer email. For 56k dial-up it was rather quick, since there were not as many pop-ups and add-ons then. We subscribers were a tight-knit bunch, trading secrets and such how to make the experience better.
I had the privilege to become of their beta testers; a couple dozen of us were split into different groups, with color names. I was first a member of the "white" team, then transferred to the "gold" team. Each team tested new technologies WebTV was experimenting with, though we couldn't discuss it with outsiders due to our signed NDA (non-disclosure agreement). I first was beta testing the ability to cut and paste (which made it to the public), then with playing games like "Doom" loaded onto the box's 1 GB hard drive (didn't make it). Later when Microsoft bought it we tested very early interactive TV, where watching a show like a football game would automatically pop a transparent menu on the screen with options to view scores and links to purchase NFL merchandise. Not only did we get to play with these new toys, we also got our MSNTV service for free, though we did experience many bugs that froze and shut down out units. There were also more grandiose plans like adding Java and updating the entire platform to Windows CE, though they were too much for the unit's limited capabilities. We finally said goodbye to our box in 2000 when it burned out and we finally got a PC.
Though a computer is more versatile, the comfort of surfing the web laid back on your sofa is something I still miss. Practically everything on the XBox 360's interactive side came from the embryo of WebTV. I have many gadgets to access the internet now, so to hear MSNTV has become obsolete comes as no surprise; even my elderly mom who had WebTV has an iPad and a smart TV. RIP MSNTV, you made a difference in this techno-geek's life.
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A clock unwinds, a flower dies...
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