Microsoft's Vine Networking Software May Become Popular During a Natural Disaster

We probably can't count out Microsoft yet as being dominant in something else other than the perpetual capitulation toward the use of Windows worldwide. Despite the departure of Bill Gates, a lot of ideas are still being tossed around in those board meetings up in Microsoft's Washington State headquarters. The adamancy behind those brainstorms only makes sense when corporate entities such as Google, Apple and...well, just about everybody else is moving ahead of Microsoft. If many of Microsoft's ideas the last few years are ill-advised, there may be one bright point on the horizon for the company. And it's in an unlikely area, outside of the possibility of marketing for the product happening via something called fate.

Through new software called Vine, Microsoft is getting into the social networking concept--except with an added twist. This time you'll be able to have maps that can tell you the whereabouts of your family or friends at any given time. Those same friends and family members can also send you messages to tell you where they are when a disaster hits. In other words, it's a hybrid of Twitter and Google's Latitude with spiffier features and maps. It also might conjure immediate thoughts of failure when the populace can't likely handle any more than one or two social networking tools at a time.

Well, the true selling point of Microsoft's Vine is going to be in its effective use of connecting everybody you know when it matters most: During times of chaos when a natural disaster or form of terrorism hits again. It's unknown as of this article whether that might involve strangers you just happen to connect with a la the world of Twitter and all other social network sites. If so, that could take Microsoft into potential lawsuit territory as Google has been dogged with recently with their Latitude and Google Streetview programs.

But then Microsoft probably figures that connecting the world, regardless if it means a compromise on privacy, is worth the legal risks. Microsoft really has to go this direction if they want to stay competitive with Google that most people think will supersede Microsoft ten times over within a few years. Don't count out those once brilliant minds at Microsoft, though. You have to wonder what the business meetings entailed when talking about the potential marketing of Vine. When natural disasters and/or terrorism is almost a given in America, the thought that Vine could take off via such a scenario must have created a lot of ethical wrangling.

Of course, natural disasters are going to be more obvious than terrorism. Most of us pray every day that terrorism won't hit--and the chances are supposedly better it won't. Natural disasters are becoming an almost everyday event now, which could give Vine its first major test while in Beta phase as of this writing. The prospect of connecting everybody you know around the country or world during a time of crisis is truly incredible and the biggest selling point of Microsoft's Vine.
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Then there's one little problem with Vine's use during natural disasters: What happens if a natural disaster knocks all the power out? This isn't a device you can carry around that can be operated by battery. Assuming our satellites are still working during a natural disaster, you could technically use a battery-powered Wi-Fi laptop to perhaps access it. The trouble would be wondering how your friends and family are doing if they don't have that luxury. Since Vine merely downloads onto your PC as a networking tool similar to Microsoft's MSN Messenger, you'll have to hope that when some major disaster happens, everybody still has power to connect with you on Vine to tell you they're ok.

We've seen plenty of recent natural disasters that don't necessarily knock the electricity off. In that scenario, we may just see Vine used to its fullest advantage during a major cataclysm, mentioned on a cable news network as connecting hundreds of people at once, and end up flying off the shelves or downloaded by the multi-millions the next morning. On the official Vine site (see source link at bottom), they already have demonstration videos available that show how Vine can connect people in both disastrous situations as well as for business reasons.

Yet there isn't a doubt based on the first demo video you see that Microsoft was thinking first of disasters as the best marketing tool toward taking Vine to the top. They also insinuate it can be used for rescues when someone gets stranded somewhere thanks to its email capability on portable devices. And through the use of what they call a dashboard, you'll be able to see all those alerts on a diffuse map that can basically make that childhood wish of seeing what's happening with everybody you know all at once a reality.

It's an ambitious program that's going to be about the same size on your screen as the above-mentioned MSN Messenger. With all that and Microsoft's expertise in creating bugs in everything they produce, things are obviously going to go wrong technically in the beginning. While it might seem nefarious to bank on natural disasters happening in order to make Vine truly connect with the public, there shouldn't necessarily be a fault found in creating ways to help us connect with people we care about during a crisis. The instantaneous relief Vine may provide us in knowing every single person we know and love are fine during a disaster makes its marketing strategy acceptable.

Should we be more fortunate and not have any major disasters during Vine's testing phase, Microsoft may still have a winner with this software. That scenario would be based on the populace's more astute awareness of things going wrong and taking precautions now with anything available to make life easier. We'll just hope that Vine won't ever experience the Microsoft brand of a blue screen freeze when we're trying to alleviate the worst fear in the world of not knowing how a loved one or friend is doing when a disaster is widespread...

Go to Microsoft Vine's official site here:

http://www.vine.net/default.aspx