In what looks like a strategy from 1998, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has announced that it's taken a $12 million stake in a Chinese television set manufacturer, Changdong, so that both companies can jointly develop entertainment products linking television and the Internet. That, umm, sounds so last century that it isn't even funny. Remember WebTV, Microsoft?

But this time there is a slight twist to the story. The web is rapidly becoming the mode of choice for distributing movies, music and other entertainment content. Part of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s strategy right now with iTunes is to make it a one-stop shop for television shows, recent movies and an entire universe of music available just by using a mouse click and, of course, and Apple iPod. Add the newer AppleTV into the mix, and you're now allowing all that same content to be served right up to newer TV with a simple remote and a high-speed internet connection.

So, perhaps Microsoft's strategy here is to go beyond the current Xbox entertainment content channel and try to bridge this newer distribution model with television content using a TV set maker as a partner. Microsoft, though, has done this before and the resultant splintering of manufacturers, difference in user interfaces and inconsistent user ecosystems caused chaos over time. Apple gets it, though -- the company provides a unified, branded and incredibly easy-to-use front for all this content, whether you're loading it from a PC onto an iPod or downloading that same content to your TV set with a remote control.

Now, to be fair, this is a relatively minor investment for Microsoft (only $12 million) and the risk for not having upside worth more that that is probably pretty small -- but that doesn't mean guaranteed success either. When I hear phrases like "The project focuses on in-home network digital entertainment -- how to connect PCs, TVs and the internet to provide this digital entertainment experience," and Microsoft is involved, it just sounds like an also-ran idea to me. Let's hope this one, somehow, is different.