4 ms·

Well, the mere fact that you know what Live.com is will make Microsoft happy. Frankly, Microsoft has done a bad job with branding, and I still think most peopl

by aneesh 18y ago

Well, the mere fact that you know what Live.com is will make Microsoft happy. Frankly, Microsoft has done a bad job with branding, and I still think most people don't even know that Live is Micrsoft's search engine. What happened to MSN being the brand?

alaskamiller 18y ago
I still don't quite get how Live is related to search either. Is it live? Or is it cause it lives to search? I don't get it.
- timr 18y ago
  Ask me about the time I interviewed with a live.com team, and asked that very question. They Were Not Amused (tm).
  - PieSquared 18y ago
    So, um, I'd love to know the answer to that question. Did they tell you? Or is it a trade secret?
    - timr 18y ago
      Heh. There was no answer, per se...just some scowling (Also, I didn't get the job, but that might not have been related). To be fair, there were some cool people in the group who knew the time of day -- one (very senior) fellow asked me point blank to enumerate the problems in Microsoft's online products, and was very intent on making sure that I defended my criticisms. We ended up having a really nice, long conversation about things like the shutdown of the IE team, and other blunders (such as the choice of "live.com" branding). I think the closest thing I got to an answer, was that the decision came down from on high. There's something like 11 levels of management at Microsoft today; based on what I've seen and heard, the politics of that structure can overwhelm good taste.
    - mlinsey 18y ago
      In between being called "MSN" and "Live", it was "Windows Live". The idea was that MSN was a brand more oriented toward being an ISP or a portal (back when it looked like the internet companies to beat were AOL and Yahoo), and this re-branding would distance themselves from being either of those, and also help them leverage the Windows brand. I don't know why they dropped the "Windows" part from the name though.
      - axod 18y ago
        Probably because most people hate windows and consider it buggy and not very good? Live seems more of a name for streaming video or something though rather than search.

by aneesh 18y ago

alaskamiller 18y ago

I still don't quite get how Live is related to search either. Is it live? Or is it cause it lives to search? I don't get it.

timr 18y ago
Ask me about the time I interviewed with a live.com team, and asked that very question. They Were Not Amused (tm).
- PieSquared 18y ago
  So, um, I'd love to know the answer to that question. Did they tell you? Or is it a trade secret?
  - timr 18y ago
    Heh. There was no answer, per se...just some scowling (Also, I didn't get the job, but that might not have been related). To be fair, there were some cool people in the group who knew the time of day -- one (very senior) fellow asked me point blank to enumerate the problems in Microsoft's online products, and was very intent on making sure that I defended my criticisms. We ended up having a really nice, long conversation about things like the shutdown of the IE team, and other blunders (such as the choice of "live.com" branding). I think the closest thing I got to an answer, was that the decision came down from on high. There's something like 11 levels of management at Microsoft today; based on what I've seen and heard, the politics of that structure can overwhelm good taste.
  - mlinsey 18y ago
    In between being called "MSN" and "Live", it was "Windows Live". The idea was that MSN was a brand more oriented toward being an ISP or a portal (back when it looked like the internet companies to beat were AOL and Yahoo), and this re-branding would distance themselves from being either of those, and also help them leverage the Windows brand. I don't know why they dropped the "Windows" part from the name though.
    - axod 18y ago
      Probably because most people hate windows and consider it buggy and not very good? Live seems more of a name for streaming video or something though rather than search.