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Originally Posted by Scott McD
If people buy it now even with the back track, then they are still idiots...
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It's the same for their software too. I remember when Microsoft used to openly declare that they wanted to move fully to a mandatory "software as a service" where you pay a monthly or yearly fee forever instead of actually owning your copy of Windows or Office.
I remember when they introduced something like "smart tags" in IE for a brief time until the backlash made them kill it. Basically by default Microsoft wanted to add a link whenever certain words were mentioned anywhere in the browser and on non-Microsoft websites without permission.
http://betanews.com/2001/06/28/micro...es-smart-tags/
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Bowing to pressure from its critics and citing consumer feedback, Microsoft has decided not to include Smart Tags in the upcoming releases of Windows XP and IE6. Smart Tags use XML to turn certain keywords on any given Web site into links that provide additional information. Users would see a word with a purple dotted line underneath, and would be directed to sites hand picked by Microsoft ? including its own offerings. The technology will be shelved for now, but may appear in later product releases. This decision does not affect a similar feature found in the recently released Office XP.
This week's refresh of the Internet Explorer 6.0 Public Preview included Smart Tags, but disabled the feature by default. Webmasters who objected to the added functionality on their pages were allowed to disable the links with a simple HTML tag. But this did not stop customers and Redmond competitors from crying foul, claiming Microsoft had an unfair advantage over where visitors were directed.
Many content providers believe that Microsoft is using its OS leverage to push its own online services, and Smart Tags only added fuel to the fire. Instead of seeing the XP product launch engulfed by controversy, the software giant revealed Thursday it would remove the feature.
The Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg reports that Microsoft was overwhelmed with feedback, not having expected such a backlash to the technology. Redmond VP Jim Allchin told the Journal, "We hadn't balanced the legitimate concerns of the content providers with the benefits we think Smart Tags can bring to users." Microsoft intends to redesign the feature without the added pressure of a release deadline.
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