Subject:
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Microsoft Targets Kids And Couch Potatoes
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Thu, 11 Jan 2001 15:57:06 GMT
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Viewed:
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492 times
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** Microsoft Targets Kids And Couch Potatoes
If Microsoft's latest vision becomes a reality, youngsters across
America could soon be sitting in "E-cliners" busily building virtual
Lego structures online. Amid disappointing sales of its ballyhooed
Windows 2000 operating system, Microsoft said Wednesday that it's
jointly developing online activities with Lego Co. and that it has
joined forces with La-Z-Boy Inc. on a recliner that includes service
and equipment for accessing Microsoft WebTV.
The alliance with Lego calls for the Danish toy company to supply
kid-related content and online games that would let young users of the
Microsoft Network build virtual structures by exploring a Lego
environment and collecting individual pieces of those structures. In
exchange, Microsoft technologies such as the Passport authentication
tool will be incorporated into Lego's Web site.
The La-Z-Boy "Explorer," meanwhile, is intended to be a sort of
browsing station equipped with a power outlet and jacks for dial-up or
digital subscriber line connections. The chair, which retails for just
over $1,000, also comes with a WebTV receiver, a wireless keyboard,
and two free months of WebTV service. WebTV exec Sam Klepper says the
joint effort was a natural given the nature of the company's service.
"This fits with our philosophy of integrating advanced technology into
the comfort of the home."
Gartner analyst Neil McDonald says market conditions are forcing
Microsoft to develop such specialized niches. Besides, McDonald says,
with nearly $25 billion in the bank, the company can afford to try
unorthodox things. "I think Microsoft is desperate to find revenue
outside of the core operating system sales because PC sales are
slowing worldwide," McDonald says. "It's a shotgun approach. Sometimes
you're gonna hit the target, sometimes you're gonna miss."
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