M$ 3 Degrees

I read this article yesterday (and the original article) and it struck me that Microsoft has actually been a pioneer in most of the technology areas or a very very close and quick follower. While browsing my document archives (ok, looking for a lost music album :) ), I came across a small .exe file. Not sure if you remember, but 3 Degrees was one of the first attempts at cool social networking stuff. Even CNET dubbed it as

a radically new instant messaging and communications product aimed at teenagers and young adults who grew up using the Internet.

CNET went on to say…

The new software, called Threedegrees, creates a peer-to-peer social group in which people can chat, share photos, listen to music and meet friends.

I remember trying out the product and wasn’t totally awed by it. As it usually happens on the online space, the value is not because of an individual but rather due to the network. One of the big reasons why I think 3 degrees failed was that it tried to do ‘music sharing’ - I remember running into buffering issues and tons of basic format issues. An idea way ahead of its time. Even today the social networking sites dont do music streaming / sharing - some of them primarily due to copyright issues and in part because no country is actually there yet in terms of dedicated final mile bandwidth. Moreover the whole ‘3 Degrees’ experience was platform specific (Windows), which in 2003 wasn’t a big deal but working on a Mac today, I wouldn’t even have downloaded it. Apps running in a browser are always a safer bet if you are aiming for a network effect. They keep the application simple, easy to scale and cross platform compatible.

It was interesting to note that Microsoft does so many things ahead of their time, first Web TV and then social networking, but somehow their success rate in the online space has not been as high as in the desktop market. Just an observation! Some may call it re-stating the obvious - take your pick!

Anyhow. Wanted to give you guys a flavor of three degrees, one of the first, albeit unsuccessful, stab at social networking! :)
The original website is down but you can always find out how it looked on the wayback archive machine!

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