Baseball, Beer, Travel, and Running

Why isn't Microsoft showing us how to use their tools to create our own Channel 9? I know how to do it with free software. I can use WordPress, or make it even easier and use Broadcast Machine to have a video blog setup on a Linux hosting account in a matter of minutes. Broadcast Machine generates the RSS feed, it even torrents my files automatically.

So why hasn't Robert showed us how we can make a Channel 9 equivalent using IIS? Using MSSQL? Using ASP.NET? These are obviously viable tools for video blogging; Channel 9 uses them. At the moment, it's almost impossible to find any information directly related to video blogging with Microsoft's toolset.

It's not because people don't want to use IIS. There are businesses and churches trying to figure this stuff out. They want to podcast and video blog using Microsoft server technologies but they aren't sure how to do it because the people like me; the people who write about podcasting and video blogging are using open source tools.

I know the market is there. I get questions about how to create RSS feeds with enclosures for IIS. I get questions about how to redirect an RSS feed from IIS to a FeedBurner account for stats tracking. The questions I get about IIS and enclosures are the tip of the iceberg. Other Microsoft customers want to know how to do it too.

I realize the core mission of Channel 9 is to tell the "Microsoft Story." It would also be beneficial to show your customers another way they can get value from their purchase. Show them how they can use the fee alternatives to free products everyone else uses to publish video blogs and podcasts. Show them another reason to keep being customers. Show them an added value that delivers more from their existing purchase. We don't need the Channel 9 server platform; just a glimpse at how to make the pieces all fit together.