The-Source.com

Microsoft MVP Miguel de Icaza is most definitely-not-being a Microsoft apologist yet again. This time around the object of his affection is oData, Microsoft’s “we can make stuff too” not-invented-here totally uneeded alternative to Google’s gData.

There’s a few interesting tidbits in this totally unshocking development:

I know what I like, and I’m sticking to it

Mr. de Icaza continues to fawn over / promote Microsoft technologies. I find it amusing and revealing at the same time that his infatuation isn’t simply with COM or C# or .NET or Silverlight, but has over time come to be more and more fanboy-like.

I don’t recall any big blogs or tweets from Mr. de Icaza about gData – but I’m sure I just missed them. But when it comes to Microsoft’s .NET-based knock-off, well then boy howdy that’s an exciting topic for Team Mono!

I love this bit from Mr. de Icaza’s post:

Microsoft is taking a very Google-y approach with oData.

Yes, in the same sense that Bush was taking a very Nirvana-y approach with Sixteen Stone. Heey-yoooo! Remember them?

If by “Google-y approach” you mean they basically cloned gData (including the name) and changed it just enough to be incompatible, then I agree it is quite the “Google-y approach” indeed. And nothing like we’ve ever seen Microsoft do before.

We’ve got to play defense here

A common defense of Mr. de Icaza is that he is just technology-infatuated – and it doesn’t matter if that tech comes from Microsoft or not. Personally, I think examples like this put that to lie; if presented with two virtually identical choices, Mr. de Icaza will talk up the Microsoft solution 10 times out of 10.

Part of this is no doubt the none-too-subtle lock-in effect that even so-called “open” Microsoft technologies promote: once you buy-in to one Microsoft technology, you find it ever more convenient to use the next building block Microsoft provides, and just a little more inconvenient to use a non-Microsoft component.

Keeping a low profile

Check out that oData home page. I think it’s quite funny that the proud Microsoft brand is nowhere to be found. An uninformed visitor might actually think this is not a single-vendor solution created as an attempt to (once again)replace a pre-existing solution. You have to get into the FAQ to see the (fully spin controlled) revelation:

Q: Isn’t this a Microsoft thing? Why do you call it the Open Data Protocol?

A: The name Open Data Protocol was chosen to make it clear that the protocol is intended to align with the Open Data movement and that we are fully committed to ensuring that the protocol remains as open as possible. We would love to hear your feedback if you have thoughts on how the protocol could be made to be more open.

This is illustrative. Remember how Microsoft used to stick “Microsoft” in front of everything they produced? Now that they have decimated the brand value of Microsoft, we will be seeing a lot more of naming like this; downplay the relationship to Microsoft and up-play the word “Open”.

Of course the vast majority of the examples, blog postings and news for this “open” technology on this “open” site will refer to Microsoft’s other products, but I’m sure that’s the purest of all innocent coincidences.