The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a nice article about Microsoft’s ‘MEDX’ team. The team is responisble for looking at ways Microsoft can influence hardware manufacturing and finding what is “fun” in the computer market. The team name comes from the name of the new office that they’re working in, the “Mobile and Embedded Devices Experience design center.”

The space is significant because Microsoft has previously prided itself on giving each employee an office, which is supposed to be wonderful for coding. This office, however, has NERF guns, an Xbox 360 and a fridge full of beer (Edit: I know I do all my best work when I’m sloshed, but, then again, I’m from NOLA. – Blake) . The 23 people in the Redmond office work in tandem with the five in Beijing to “improve the overall experience of using Windows Mobile devices–including hardware and software.”

I don’t know about you, but this feels to me like Microsoft trying to take a page out of Google’s playbook. Or maybe it’s Apple’s playbook–or maybe their Redmond neighbor, Nintendo. Whatever the case, I guess I’m glad to see they’re at least trying something different. At one point, there’s even a mention that on Friday afternoons, It’s fairly common for the team to be playing video games and drinking beer.

Software Notebook: Microsoft tries a new model for device team [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]