Microsoft to acquire Groove
Mar 10 2005, 12:29 EST [updated Mar 10 2005, 20:17 EST]
As reported on Slashdot, Microsoft announced it will buy Groove Networks. This is remarkable for two reasons. One, Groove makes a networky group software thing like the one in the movie AntiTrust (2001). Two, the Groove software is a piece of shit. Horribly over engineered and over hyped shit. I've never used it but that's what I hear from both people who've used it and people involved in writing it. YMMV.
From the slashdot comments, Joel Splosky of "Joel on Software" fame has taken a few bites at Groove in the past (2001/2002). The best of which is this one (and a response from Groove-boy here). His basic argument is that Groove can't figure out if it is a platform or an application. Specifically he thinks they are a platform but their pricing model is for an application. His three articles that mention groove are, in order a brief mention, a response to a Groove guy who took umbrage at the brief mention, and the above mentioned assault on platform/application confusion.