Instant-On Collaboration

Christian Cantrell points to some new features being added to the Macromedia Breeze product. In this instance, the Breeze product is being given new features that are meant to extend and enhance the instant messaging experience.

In theory, the integration would allow a simple IM conversation to escalate to a Breeze-based interactive collaboration using the simple shortcut "breeze now". Interested parties can glimpse this process in action here.

To date, my experiences with Breeze have been less than stellar. For the most part, these have been large, worldwide presentations conducted by Macromedia themselves. The experience lagged somewhat and there was almost too much information and not enough reasonable interaction to digest. Beyond those experiences, I have been involved in a few one-on-one sessions with better success. Though there is the ability for hundreds, that's not a power that should be wielded without great consideration.

This direction, however, has some implications for other "blur-makers". One example is Convoq and their ASAP product. As they describe, "ASAP eliminates the barriers to instant collaboration with powerful features for gathering the right people at the right time into a rich online meeting environment." With Breeze moving in this direction, there is going to be overlap that will either spur innovation or compact the competitive landscape.

It's far too early to predict where things will go - it seems more appropriate to think of time versus experience exponentially, as opposed to linearly, when trying to guesstimate the future of real-time integration.