When Microsoft announced Boardwalk, its foray into online real estate sales, we took the hint: the folks in Redmond are playing a high-stakes game of Monopoly on the Web. In fact, as early as December 1996, an internal memo had Microsoft's Interactive Service Media raking in US$1 billion by 2001. (Analysts at Forrester Research double that estimate.)
That Microsoft is bullish about new media isn't exactly news. What is remarkable, though, is how it intends to make its millions. The company cut back on content to focus instead on mediating transactions � the CNET service-not-publishing strategy writ gargantuan. Via Microsoft you can now order box seats or place a classified ad (Sidewalk); purchase plane tickets and make hotel reservations (Expedia); pick up a car (CarPoint); buy a home (Boardwalk); build a stock portfolio (Investor); and save on your kids' education (Internet Gaming Zone). All that's left, really, is for Microsoft to issue its own Monopoly money. It's thought of that too: Virtual Wallet, an ecommerce application, ships with Internet Explorer 4.0.
ELECTRIC WORD
Microsoft Morphs into a Service Company
