Microsoft buys Danger (creator of teen fave Sidekick); Why?

Yesterday, Microsoft announced that it is buying Danger, the maker of the Sidekick. The Sidekick is an interesting phenomenon in the United States. The phone itself is only available through T-Mobile and it is barely available outside of the U.S. Although talking on the phone is like putting a piece of toast up to your ear, it is one of the best devices for inputting text. Its qwerty keyboard, flip-top screen, and easy interface makes it the ideal device for sending text messages an IMs. While getting a data plan for the iPhone or Crackberry can be quite costly, the $30/month data plan includes infinite web, IM, email, and text messaging use. Unlike plans for other phones, Sidekick users do not need to have a voice plan to activate the data plan.

The Sidekick’s user base is rather unique and quite passionate about the device. For a while, the Sidekick was THE device for hip-hop stars and celebrities. Paris Hilton’s use of the device became well-documented after someone managed to socially hack their way into her data. The device appeared in all sorts of music videos, without prior consent from the company behind it. While it’s hard to know whether the egg or the chicken came first, the Sidekick became extremely popular amongst urban youth in the United States. (While youth are the most visible users of the SK, deaf and hard-of-hearing users are also passionate about the Sidekick, particularly because it supports IP-Relay and i711 services which allow deaf users to make phone calls using an operator as a go-between.)

When I interviewed urban teens about social media, I consistently heard about the Sidekick. Some teens told me how they learned to IM through the Sidekick; others told me how the Sidekick was their first non-school device for accessing the Internet. Amongst certain circles, those who didn’t have one wanted one because it was seen as the “cool” thing. It was a guaranteed way to communicate with friends no matter where you were, no matter how badly you had gone over your minutes. As Shean (17, LA) explained: “When you have your Sidekick, you can text message so fast – and it has AIM. And everybody has AIM. And all my friends have Sidekicks so it’s like the new network for kids or teenagers and people, like, everyone wants a Sidekick because it’s easier, rather than just getting on the phone to call people.”

I started using the Sidekick in 2003. When the iPhone came out, I thought about switching… but then I tried typing on it and found myself completely frustrated. Many of the teens who were addicted to the Sidekick felt the same way I did - the iPhone sure was pretty, but it wasn’t as useful as the Sidekick. Given Microsoft’s tiff with Apple, there’s no doubt that this is part of the appeal.

There are certainly problems with the Sidekick. Danger’s relationship with T-Mobile has been a complete disaster for the product. T-Mobile won’t let users upload their own programs to the device, making it a non-generative technology even though the APIs for the OS are available. T-Mobile has refused to launch new versions until years after they’re finished, meaning that the device is always outdated at launch. The web capabilities are dreadful and many of the applications need a breath of fresh air.

All that said, I can’t help but scratch my head at Microsoft’s acquisition. Most of the original Sidekick team had long since left Danger for Google. (They are the folks behind Google Android.) The Sidekick doesn’t really need an operating system; Danger’s OS is hands-down the simplest phone interface on the market. (Personally, I dread the idea of Microsoft inserting their wonky mobile OS into the device; this will be the end of my personal SK use.) Danger is completely hogtied to T-Mobile making it impossible for the phone to be used on other carriers.

I respect that Microsoft wants to get into the mobile space, but what does this acquisition mean for the passionate youth userbase? Will Microsoft manage to break this deal or are they going to continue to let T-Mobile dictate the terms of what goes on the phone? Will Microsoft force the carriers to allow people to develop for the SK? Will Microsoft implement their UI on this device or learn from what Danger did right? Will Microsoft help launch the SK outside of the U.S.? Will Microsoft work to get the SK in the hands of youth outside of urban settings? Or will Microsoft buy it and squash it?

I still can’t make sense of this acquisition. Anyone have better insights into what’s going on?

Entry Filed under: Technologies