Microsoft Says Goodbye To WebTV/MSN TV 92
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has just notified both subscribers of MSN TV that the service would be ending at the end of September (FAQ for subscribers here). The service, which delivered Internet access to a TV screen via a set top box, was the evolution of WebTV Networks launched by Steve Perlman and others during the initial Web boom in the mid '90s. Microsoft bought the company for $503 million in 1997, when Bill Gates was still CEO."
I owned MSN TV (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Then again... (Score:4, Interesting)
The idea behind set-top boxes is reasonable: a simple cheap device for people who have little use for a full-blown PC. But they used to be so extremely limited in matters of processing power, storage, customizability... to the point that they were not good enough even for those people. Now look at any Android mini-PC that you can get off eBay for $50, it's something completely different. I guess we finally got to the point where set-top boxes can be made good enough and cheap enough.
Re:Whatever you use ... (Score:4, Interesting)
Depends on the device. I own a Sega Genesis, a 22 year old machine, that I still play from time to time. It was made before the dawn of internet dependance, thus, as long as I have the game cartridges, I will be able to play the console.
An Xbox One or PS3 (or PC) may have some game you like that 22 years from now you won't be able to play because the support servers were shut down. Hell, the situation also covers content creation software like Photoshop CS2, which resulted in Adobe making a mess of things and accidentally releasing the un-DRM'd software to the general public. I doubt Microsoft will bother, 15 years from now many people will still care but the outcry wouldn't be great enough to prevent the death of the entire system. We are lucky to have managed that pre-emtively, but we'll have to live with the reality that some of the games and software that we buy simply have an end-date.
It's worth caring about, at least in principal.
Bill Gates Ripped Me Off! (Score:4, Interesting)
"Microsoft has just notified both subscribers of MSN TV that the service would be ending..."
Yes, and I imagine the two of them are equally disappointed. (I'm sure someone already made that joke, but I couldn't resist...)
Seriously though, I was responsible for some of the (frankly torturous) menu music in the earlier WebTV firmware (ooh, .MOD files...) which I was never actually paid for because my cheque got lost in the shuffle when Microsoft bought WebTV Networks. I think I'm happier to be able to say that Microsoft stiffed me though (and more proud of that fact than the music I wrote), rather than if I'd actually been paid. It makes for a better story.
Surprised the platform has survived this long though...