What consumer electronics does Microsoft have to demonstrate anyway? Zune is dead, they don't make phones and they're not going to take to the stage to go on about the 6 year old XBox 360.
CES headman: 'Microsoft not gone, just on pause'
When Microsoft said in December that this year's Consumer Electronics show would be its last, it failed to convince the president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, the organization that produces CES. "I would be shocked if a Microsoft leader did not return to this stage again in the next few years," said the CEA …
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Tuesday 10th January 2012 11:01 GMT Bronek Kozicki
yes,
... I thought the same, but then I remembered Kinect. It might be that, despite great commercial success and massive advertising budgets, projects such as this aren't perceived internally in Microsoft as innovations worth speaking about. Perhaps it's something to do with internal politics.
Paris, just because.
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Friday 13th January 2012 21:58 GMT Jean-Luc
@Completely unfair
Tsssk tsssk.
One would almost think, by reading those remarks about the Holy Founding Fathers and Their Eternal Wisdom That Shall Resonate Through The Ages And From Sarah Palin's Sultry Lips (TM), that some of y'all Brits are still all sore about being booted out by your colony, 200+ yrs later.
Time to grow a pair, dudettes ;-)
p.s. That said, I can think of few things more butt-kissing than this kind of intro. esp to Ballmer.
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Tuesday 10th January 2012 19:53 GMT Asgard
Can't say I will miss Ballmer but...
It seems very strange (and short sighted) that any company would want to give up such a huge and prestigious PR opportunity as giving the keynote speech at such a big event as CES. But then I guess Microsoft cannot easily talk about the future (without reporters asking awkward questions that make Microsoft look bad) such as the growth potential of new technology, when Microsoft isn't leading in these new markets such as mobile.
But still, I never thought I would see the day when Microsoft is so visibly sidelined.
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Tuesday 10th January 2012 21:34 GMT Charles Manning
Why...
To maul the old saying: "Better to be quiet and be thought to be boring and lame than open your mouth and prove it!"
While many companies and CEOs could turn the opportunity of a keynote into a huge benefit, MS and Ballmer just use it to make themselves look worse.
Microsoft withdrew. It has taken them a few years to get their egos in check enough to realise that opening their mouths at CES makes things worse, not better. Bill Gates could screw up a bit on stage and get away with it because he's Bill. Ballmer gets no such credit.
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Wednesday 11th January 2012 00:35 GMT Sil
Microsoft had nothing new to show so the keynote was boring.
It was even embarassing: Seacrest's lack of talent as a moderator, Ballmer's fake joviality, and windows phone / windows 8 (which I think are exciting products) presentations that fought for the price of most boring presentation ever.
For the last keynote I think they should have tried to make us dream with even more time to present the new PCs/Ultrabooks/tablets and show a few of the exciting Microsoft Research projects.