Channel 9: The next 6 months - Content

Charles wrote:

1) What content do you most enjoy watching/listening to on Channel 9?

Demos "in house"

2) What types of content do you wish we would have?

Real World Applications - Demo'ing (Where is Office 12 Being used, Where is Vista being used previously?)

3) As developers (for those that are devs out there), what most interests you these days that you'd like us to cover on C9?

AJAX and web development. How Live works with this...

4) What else would you like to see on Channel 9 over the next 6 months, as far as content goes.

How vista ramps up and maybe how it's being promoted already with OEMs etc...

Charles wrote:

OK Niners. We need your feedback. If you have some time, please answer one or more of the following questions

1) What content do you most enjoy watching/listening to on Channel 9?

The Bill Hill / Larry Osterman-type videos that give a lot of insight into the company

Charles wrote:

2) What types of content do you wish we would have?

Interviews where we ask the questions that you put forward to the interviewees.

Charles wrote:

3) As developers (for those that are devs out there), what most interests you these days that you'd like us to cover on C9?

For me? IIS, ASP.NET, and IE development.

Charles wrote:

4) What else would you like to see on Channel 9 over the next 6 months, as far as content goes.

• An interview with the MSN Messenger team (I sent Scoble a detailed list of hard-hitting (yet reasonable) questions I want answered).
• Another interview with the Hotmail guys
  • Mostly about the increasingly invasive and distracting adverts polluting my parents' inboxes
  • ...and why they used Javascript to open new messages when it was utterly useless (and hindered tabbed browsing)
    
• And one with the Zone.com team
  • Why the're (seemingly) abandoning Gamespy-Arcade-style services and replacing them with free (and ad-supported) 'parlour games'
  • What they were smoking when they agreed with integration with MSN Messenger

And more besides, but you get my point

1. I think it really depends on your experience level and what other "Community" events you've been to. The ones I really don't like are the "we're developers this isn't marketing" ones that really are just marketing. By way of example, the video on Sparkle was one of my favourites - the enthusiasm of Manuel came across as very genuine and he got me excited about something I'd known nothing about before. The very recent video on Max was an example of "wasted time": nothing I hadn't heard already at PDC and most of it felt like bullshit. When a developer keeps going on about 3 monthly release cycles and "Look we have our faces on the front page" to justify themselves as different there's something wrong. Just look at the dates on the blog entries, the responses to "when are we going to have a build that works with the current releases" to see how ridiculous the hype for that particular web site was.

2. It's hard to predict: if I've had a long day at work I just want to listen to a conversation between smart people that isn't too taxing (the current front page video for MIX06 was the sort of "relaxing" video I enjoyed listening in on, even if I didn't really learn anything new). At other times when I'm researching a specific area I'd want something more in depth - WITH THE DEVELOPERS (or a product manager who really knows his stuff), not someone giving the verbal equivalent of PowerPoint slides. I guess my ideal would be a video version of the HanselMinutes.com podcast that started up a couple of weeks ago - only two episodes so far but they've both been a very good use of time with very little chatty nonsense, I learnt lots of stuff and it was fun to listen to. There's a lack of a sort of "news this week" video to summarise everything that's happened on the blogs in terms of bugs, fixes, buzz etc The .Net Show seems to have folded and was so out of date by the time it was made available that to have a "News" video item on it was pretty ludicrous. Channel 9 could do it better and in a more timely fashion.

3. See above

One thing I'd really like to see is downloadable versions of videos that can just be copied across to a Pocket PC or SmartPhone. I used to be able to download the .Net Rocks show mobile version and watch it on my daily commute (by train). When heading out to PDC I was able to watch a lot of the C9 videos on my laptop on the 10 hour flight but battery life on a laptop sucks and my laptop died way before I'd seen everything I wanted to see. The same videos in a format I could have just copied across to my Pocket PC would have made the videos much more usable.

But I suspect I am not typical of your average C9 member!

Is there no C9 video of the PDC Universal Studios party?

But more technical videos would be nice. Especially with all the products coming out. Vista, WPF, WCF...etc

And more Bill Hill. Make another capus walkthrough that's 2 hours long and I'd watch it

Charles wrote:

1) What content do you most enjoy watching/listening to on Channel 9?

Going Deep is a great series thus far.

Charles wrote:

2) What types of content do you wish we would have?

I've suggested this before... But learning/teaching content, which, after watching you come away learning something new. And I don't mean about features of product X and Y, I mean like REAL skills or useful tip-bits.

Kind of like the screencasts but with a whiteboard.

Charles wrote:

3) As developers (for those that are devs out there), what most interests you these days that you'd like us to cover on C9?

Why nobody has re-written unmanaged VC++'s library system so it is object based instead of file based!

Charles wrote:

4) What else would you like to see on Channel 9 over the next 6 months, as far as content goes.

Less WM_IN, more Going Deep... More leaving the Microsoft campus and going off to explore (e.g. Computing Musium, Google etc).

1) What content do you most enjoy watching/listening to on Channel 9?

WM_IN... No, just kidding!  [EDIT: Drat, Manip beat me to it] Going Deep, and pet projects like the CarPuter w/WiFi and GPRS connectivity one of your lackeys set up awhile back.  I'd also like to see more places like the VIBE lab.

2) What types of content do you wish we would have?

Possibly a code-sharing area for devs of all skill levels.  Techoff is good for discussion, but somewhat lacks in the sharing of code snippets.  Possibly some way of integrating TechOff with SandBox.  Possibly a thread and user rating system like SlashDot uses. 

3) As developers (for those that are devs out there), what most interests you these days that you'd like us to cover on C9?

C# / ASP web integration.  Any info regarding Kernel-Mode operation, as well as (obviously) anything from the many Windows teams that can help us integrate our software with Windows - Past, present, and future (i.e., XP, Vista, and whatever it is that BlackComb was renamed to.

4) What else would you like to see on Channel 9 over the next 6 months, as far as content goes.

A return to the informative, geeky video style C9 used to embrace fully - Videos such as Going Deep and what the different teams are working on.  While such videos continue to grace our screens, they just don't seem as prevalent lately.

Manip wrote:

Kind of like the screencasts but with a whiteboard.

You might want to check out the new Dot Net Rocks TV which started up last week (two episodes so far) - good stuff based on showing you the code (in the Visual Studio iE in high resolution) rather than endless wibble.

Manip wrote:

Charles wrote: 1) What content do you most enjoy watching/listening to on Channel 9?

Going Deep is a great series thus far.

Charles wrote: 2) What types of content do you wish we would have?

I've suggested this before... But learning/teaching content, which, after watching you come away learning something new. And I don't mean about features of product X and Y, I mean like REAL skills or useful tip-bits.

Kind of like the screencasts but with a whiteboard.

Charles wrote: 4) What else would you like to see on Channel 9 over the next 6 months, as far as content goes.

Less WM_IN, more Going Deep... More leaving the Microsoft campus and going off to explore (e.g. Computing Musium, Google etc).

Couldn't agree with Manip more here.

Going Deep is great!

I'll keep coming back to Channel 9 and watching the videos, if it means i'm going to learn something; how something works and why windows does this etc...

Larry talked about the pranks people do @ Microsoft. I want to see a video about those pranks and see what the changed offices look like (before and after).
I also want to see a remake of the bouncy ball joke with the real Steve Ballmer.

1) I enjoy watching clips of products I'm interested in with demos (not just an hour of talking). Vista videos are nice, but I like seeing demos of stuff I can use today.

2) Videos and visuals. The podcasts don't interest me.

3) Virtualization (Virtual PC and Virtual Server)

4) More interviews with Ben Armstrong. The interviews earlier were just kind of "virtualization for dummies". I'd be interested in hearing more low level details about it, what benefits the new processor extensions will provide, and so on. Questions like "Why is it hard to provide a virtual environment for running OS/2?" Basically, give it the same treatment that all the "Going Deep" Windows/kernel type videos get.

Some ideas:

1)  Something I've suggested before, a "live video".  Give us a time, place and video feed and a chat client and let us (strictly registered members) fire questions at them

2)  A regular diary.  Get someone involved with Vista with a video camera to record a talking heads type diary every week (ie. him or her video him/herself just chatting about how the week has been and how they feel leading up to the release of Vista).  try to be similar to the Video Nation idea (http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/videonation/what_is.shtml)

3)  More WM_IN!  Seriously, its good to hear about the fairer sex at Microsoft because, as we are all acutely aware, the industry needs more female figureheads.  It might not appeal to many people here right now, but surely that's the point - they aren't exactly the target audience.  Concentrate more on what they do than the fact they are female and the challenges that brings, though.

4)  "A Day in the Life of" - follow around or give a brave employee a camcorder to show the typical day at Microsoft.

5)  More Bill Hill!

6)  Get Rudder in front of the camera more.

7)  Try and get interviews with important figures outside of Microsoft.  Russinovich is the key aim, in my opinion.  I respect no one in computing today more than that guy.  But also the likes of Rafal Lukawiecki, Clemens Vasters, Kimberley Tripp, etc

8)  Similar blokes from inside Microsoft such as Jesper Johansson

EDIT:

9)  Forgetting, importantly, an extensive interview with Ray Ozzie.

10)  Some DirectX 10 games companies.  I'll have your babies if you can interview anyone from Crytek!

Charles wrote:

OK Niners. We need your feedback. If you have some time, please answer one or more of the following questions

1) What content do you most enjoy watching/listening to on Channel 9?

Where you pick something up, for example. I really liked the series with the profiler guy because I picked up how to use the profiler, I also liked the video with the VB Express PM because I picked up how to use the web control.

But I do like 'out of the norm vids' for example when you interviewed the webmaster of microsoft.com, even though I have no intrest in sysadminning or web development, I 'just enjoyed it'

2) What types of content do you wish we would have?

Maybe more stuff demo with an emphasis on learning something at the end, for example, learning how to spot security exploits in code.

3) As developers (for those that are devs out there), what most interests you these days that you'd like us to cover on C9?

DirectX and gaming technologies, this is a huge part of Microsofts dominance, and there have been how many videos on directx? 1 if you count that as a video about directx.

Maybe tips and tricks about about that ETC?

4) What else would you like to see on Channel 9 over the next 6 months, as far as content goes.

Less evangelists in videos, muchos respect to those guys, and I know what Scoble said about it, but it just turns the video into a big marketing circle jerk.

But with the last couple of videos I have noticed the evangelists are dissapearing.

Thank you,

Thank you aswell, Channel9 has changed my perception of Microsoft.

C & The Channel 9 Team

Suggestion, why don't you have user submitted content? For example, W3bbo could do a series on web development etc, I could possibly do something about modding for HL2. They could be screencasts?

Charles wrote:

OK Niners. We need your feedback. If you have some time, please answer one or more of the following questions

1) What content do you most enjoy watching/listening to on Channel 9?

Shows( WM_IN and Going Deep), it is a great taste.

Charles wrote:

2) What types of content do you wish we would have?

Non-MS videos, of course you guys won't and never want to introduce about Linux, but I think Borland Deverlop Studio 2006 is a good choice.

Charles wrote:

3) As developers (for those that are devs out there), what most interests you these days that you'd like us to cover on C9?

A Technology Introduction Video.
Do you think we as developers are interesting in technology, no, and never, we need face to the stupid technology almost 8 hours per day, so only beginner will like the stupid technology, that's why I said C9 should produce some technology videos for beginners.

Charles wrote:

4) What else would you like to see on Channel 9 over the next 6 months, as far as content goes.

Thank you,

C & The Channel 9 Team

MS Lives series, Windows Live, Visual Studio Live, Office Live...

Charles wrote:

OK Niners. We need your feedback. If you have some time, please answer one or more of the following questions

No problem, anything for C9

Charles wrote:

1) What content do you most enjoy watching/listening to on Channel 9?

Going Deep has been the best, Women in Tech has been the second

Charles wrote:

2) What types of content do you wish we would have?

More videos of Real World use of .NET, Windows and other MS technologies.

Charles wrote:

3) As developers (for those that are devs out there), what most interests you these days that you'd like us to cover on C9?

More info on how Microsoft is using the .NET Framework within Microsoft and future products based on the .NET Framework.  Also more on ASP.NET and other Web Services technology.

Charles wrote:

4) What else would you like to see on Channel 9 over the next 6 months, as far as content goes.

Another Steve B video, A Bill Hilf video and some more content on the MacBU.  More information about the final development of Vista, maybe a peek at the packageing. 

Charles wrote:

Thank you,

C & The Channel 9 Team

No problem Charles, have a great year. 

Charles wrote:

OK Niners. We need your feedback. If you have some time, please answer one or more of the following questions

1) What content do you most enjoy watching/listening to on Channel 9?

Coffeehouse, people.

2) What types of content do you wish we would have?

Encouragement for Certifications

3) As developers (for those that are devs out there), what most interests you these days that you'd like us to cover on C9?

For me, it's the Enterprise Library 2.0, plus learning ASP.NET

4) What else would you like to see on Channel 9 over the next 6 months, as far as content goes.

Has there been discussion for a web service(s) with methods that can provide C9 content to it's validated users?

DirectX!  I want to see whats under the hood in that marvelous bit of technology.  All the other topics suggested by others are very good too.
Edit: Oh, another interview with Bill Gates or Ballmer would be nice.

Charles wrote:

OK Niners. We need your feedback. If you have some time, please answer one or more of the following questions

1) What content do you most enjoy watching/listening to on Channel 9?

2) What types of content do you wish we would have?

3) As developers (for those that are devs out there), what most interests you these days that you'd like us to cover on C9?

4) What else would you like to see on Channel 9 over the next 6 months, as far as content goes.

Thank you,

C & The Channel 9 Team

1.
Going deep, videos with Bill Hil(!!!!! VERY VERY MUCH. He is just the best). Videos featuring the Avalon/indigo team is awesome aswell. Also videos about the new stacks comming up in vista are interresting. Movies behind the scene also are very enjoyable. Gives you a good view on how microsoft works as a hole.

2. See above

3. See above AGAIN.

4. Going deep! Also, behind the scenes movies are quite fun.