Blogs, short for Web logs, aren't new: they've been used for years by tech enthusiasts to spew out personal opinions on everything from politics and religion to family news and notes. But they've started to attract attention from the corporate world, which sees blogs as a way to communicate to larger groups than are possible via e-mail or instant messaging.
"Gates comments are an indication that Microsoft is working on blogging as a communications tool," said Wilcox.
Gates boasted of blogs' prowess. "The ultimate idea is that you should get the information you want when you want it," he said.
By highlighting blogs and RSS notifications, Gates is giving notice, said Wilcox, that Microsoft sees both a business opportunity in and a threat from the technology.
Wilcox likened blogs, and Microsoft's current lack of blogging tools, to the opening rounds of the Internet, when Microsoft woke up and smelled the threat from then-major competitors such as Netscape.
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