Hello !
My name is Mike Polson. I'm a Program Manager here @ Microsoft working in the Windows Digital Media Division. My colleagues in the division develop the ultra-cool:
- Windows Media Player
- Windows Media Encoder
- Windows Media Services (server)
- Windows Media Center Edition
- Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition
- Windows Movie Maker
I use and Love all these products. Most are available as free downloads!
Ok-- so what do I actually do?
I design systems and databases for providing Metadata Services for Windows Media Player.
What's a Metadata Service?
Well, metadata is “data about data”. We provide several metadata services. Our most popular service in terms of usage is CD metadata.
Hopefully, you've noticed that when you insert a CD into Windows Media Player, it displays the album name, artist name, and all your track (song) titles. In addition, you may see a pretty picture of the actual CD jacket.
Although it may appear too, that “metadata“ doesn't actually reside on your CD. Instead, it is provided via our online service. If you computer is connected to the internet, when you insert a CD into Windows Media Player for the first time, it will query our database. If we have a match for your CD, we will send you fresh and shiny metadata.
Our goal is that this service “just works“ -- so how are we doing?
