InfoWorld: HailStorm was before its time: July 16, 2004: By Jon Udell

InfoWorld: HailStorm was before its time: July 16, 2004: By Jon Udell "I'd be even happier if I could control the source of that data. Public information is a poorly defined concept, after all. There are online directories that still remember an address I vacated five years ago. I'd like to maintain the facts about me that I deem public. When applications need those facts, I'd like to refer them to a service that dispenses them.
We've now arrived at the brink of a precipice. On the rocks below lies the shattered body of Microsoft's HailStorm. What sent it over the edge was the notion that it would manage not only public facts, but also private ones: credit card numbers, travel itineraries, musical preferences. Sooner or later, we will wind up delegating the management of these facts to services acting on our behalf. HailStorm was the right idea. But the dawn of this century was the wrong time and Microsoft was the wrong company."