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Working at Microsoft, and not working in Redmond means a few things. 1) I spend a fair amount of time traveling back and forth, 2) I spend a lot of time calling in to meetings and usually can't hear what is going on and 3) I spent a lot of time trying to get our VTC system to work (50% of the time it doesn't).

Let me tell you... calling into a meeting is very unfulfilling when you are collaborating with folks.

Even though Microsoft is a technology company, when it comes to collaboration, 9 out of 10 times you need to get your butt in a plane and go if you care to participate in planning.

Well today I saw, and used something that changed all that. For the first time in 9 year I participated in a meeting that was held in Redmond while sitting in my Office.

Some of the new conference rooms in Redmond have a Microsoft RoundTable. RoundTable is a combination conference phone like a PolyComm but it also has a set of cameras arranged in a circle. A person in the room connects their laptop running Live Meeting 2007 and what I can see on my end is a panoramic view of the entire room AND a camera view of the person who is talking. You can see this below.

I can't tell you how natural this feels. I can literally feel like I am there. And the folks in the conf room can see me on the projector since I had a webcam. No phone was used at all.

This technology is simply amazing. It is going to have a huge impact on me and I hope a lot of folks in Redmond take advantage of this.

It's days like this where I come to work and just go Wow... I can't believe we made this. There is a pretty good review of it here.

PS - If you haven't tried Office Communicator 2007 you should. It's the best IM/Collaboration software I have ever used. It has killer features like delivering missed conversations to your inbox and letting you reply later. More on that in a future post.

One of the neat, subtle things about Microsoft is the Art Collection. On our SVC Campus they just completed a major rotation of artwork. Kinda sad as I grew to like some of the artwork, but now we have a bunch of new things to see and appreciate.

Not many companies have amazing art collections. While you do see a lot of posters on the walls of Microsoft, you also see a broad, diverse set of pictures, sculptures, paintings and so on. It's one of the nice things about Microsoft.

There is an article in CNN about the Microsoft Art Collection. In Silicon Valley the art is very well integrated into our cool building design. I love this quote in the article:

When asked why Microsoft collects art, Klein answered, "Because they can. And they should. They are involved in culture. Technology is culture. And the art informs the culture."

One of my favorite portraits that used to be on our campus is this picture by Wayne Thiebaud.

[via Adam Barr] 

I really enjoyed watching the interview of Steve and Bill a the AllThingsD conference.

It's a great reminder of why I enjoy being a part of Microsoft, even if the legacy I'm helping to build pales in comparison to what the folks at Apple, Microsoft and other companies did when I was a kid. Microsoft is a special place to work, even with all the dysfunction that exists today.

I watched all 7 parts, but there is also a highlight reel.

The Apple Commercial about the PC Guy going to get upgraded to run Vista is funny. But what happens next? I mean the commercials are funny because they poke fun at the fact that the PC has been carrying around a lot of baggage for the past 5 years while the Mac OS has received almost yearly upgrades.

But common. Vista is fan freaking tastic. Everyone that has come to our house and used our iMac running Vista has had a favorable impression. It's dammed cool and has some killer features that I will blog about soon. Vista Media Center simply rocks.

The hardware will probably never be as cool. I mean never, and here is why:

1. Cables. A PC OEM will never care as much about cables, adapters and plugs as Apple does. You will mostly get some nasty wall wart. They don't give a rat. Some one at Apple deeply cares about how the cables look, feel, and their usability.
2. The blinking lights, leds and other useless nonsense will always be there. Even Sony's have buttons like "S1" and "S2". What the heck do those do.
3. Screws, compartments, and protrusions. Ever look at the bottom of a powerbook? Take a look at the bottom of a dell, hp, thinkpad, any dammed laptop. Enough said.
4. Stickers. Macs will never come with stickers on them. It would be like buying a Ferarri with a big sticker on it for the brand of tire.
5. Crapware. Your brand new PC is going to be busting from the seams with crapware, the Mac never will.
6. Backwards Compatibility. Apple routinely chops off support for legacy peripherals. My PCees still have parallel ports. One even has a joystick port. Sigh. These are ugly and take up valuable space.
7. DVI. Mac's have digital video for everything. every Mac, laptop etc has a DVI port. Why settle for less? Oh right, when you are trying to save $2 on the box you are making.
8. Big Ugly Boxes. Generally speaking PCees are ugly as sin. Every single PC at Best Buy is just terrible looking.

But anyway, besides the obvious I wonder where they are going to go with this. Seriously... what's the Mac guy going to make fun off when PC guy is running Vista?

The fact that iTunes doesn't work well?

Microsoft researcher Jim Gray is missing at sea while on a solo sailing trip. I hope Jim is found soon.

I met Jim randomly at a Microsoft event awhile back and had a highly memorable discussion with him about various technologies and the Tablet PC. He's not only smart as Robert Scoble points out, he's a genuinely nice person.

Other news covering Jim Gray:
Information Week: Jim Gray has "...teacher's patience with my questions."
San Francisco Chronicle: Jim "...apparently disappeared on a day cruise to the Farallon Islands."
Seattle Post Intelligencer: "The Coast Guard searched all night with a C-130 plane"

Oh, this is terrible. Jim Gray is a highly respected computer scientist. Microsoft is lucky to have him. I do hope they find him soon.

Jim was pretty instrumental in helping to build some of the current hotmail backend storage infrastructure.