Seeker Blog

Today, Channel 9 is one of the few things at Microsoft that company image mavens love to talk about. Google is kicking Microsoft’s butt in search; Vista, its new operating system, is getting tepid reviews. Zune, its iPod killer, can’t kill a flea. And Nintendo’s Wii, not the Xbox 360, is the hottest game console in town. Channel 9, on the other hand, makes Microsoft look downright visionary. No large company — with the possible exception of Sun Microsystems — is as far along in understanding how the Internet changes the way employees connect with suppliers, customers, shareholders, and peers. The goal is clear: Reestablish Microsoft as a cool, progressive enterprise that appeals to customers, investors, and top job prospects. While the rest of corporate America is scrambling to figure out whether it wants to allow blogging at all, famously guarded, control-freak Microsoft has embraced the idea of transparency with messianic fervor.