Channel 9

MSDN’s new Channel 9 site hopes, as they put it, to provide “a way to listen in to the cockpit at Microsoft, an opportunity to learn how we fly, a chance to get to know our pilots.” In other words, it lets you see how the developers work, how they think, and allows you to open dialogue with them. Unlike at any other time when we’ve lived in the shadow of Microsoft, as developers, today we have amazing access to the company and the people behind it. Get involved, and who knows, that feature or that insight you’ve wanted to see might just get implemented.

It’s certainly a very readable and usable site, full of video, comments, and discussions brought to you from inside Microsoft.

In much the same way as blogs have put a human face on MSFT, Channel 9 has every opportunity of putting a friendly smile on that same face.

As with any community driven site, how useful and how successful it becomes depends on how active its membership becomes.

And, lets face it, sometimes its just nice to sit back at work with some headphones and watch some video, rather than straining those eyes reading text.