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In a year full of promise (and risk), Microsoft starts it off with a thud

Jan 10, 2012 12:56 pm by Kip Kniskern | 11 comments

This was Microsoft’s last CES keynote, after a 14 year run of opening the consumer electronics event, and the new year, in January in Las Vegas. In a year that promises Windows 8, renewed hope for Windows Phone with a strong push into the US market by Nokia,and another strong push by Xbox, featuring Bing and Kinect, into the living room, the news coming from the keynote was decidedly underwhelming. Microsoft found itself oddly without much to say in front of the biggest consumer tech audience of the year.

Instead, Steve Ballmer chose to divert attention to Microsoft’s powerful 2012 lineup with Ryan Seacrest and a (gasp) Tweet Choir, and rolled out a rehash of the developer preview of Windows 8 (still with that gawdawful green background, and ok, another gawdawful tile one on the ARM tablet), barely touching on the promises of the new year.

Microsoft has taken secrecy to whole new levels, but this is ridiculous. Certainly there could have been *something* new to show with Windows 8? Microsoft says that the timing of CES doesn’t mesh well with their plans, but at some point you need to change your plans a bit. Roll out a new feature or two for Windows 8, they certainly exist as the beta is only a few weeks away. Show off the new features of Xbox, and talk *just a bit* about how Xbox will continue to move strongly into the living room. Point out the beautiful new Nokia 900, and just *hint* at how much more there is to come with Windows Phone, and soon.

And more than 6 months after the deal was announced to acquire Skype, with the deal finalized last October, Microsoft has *nothing* to say about the plans for integrating Skype into Microsoft products? Surely CES would have been the perfect venue to give us some sort of an early look at what to expect.

Instead, Microsoft went out of CES after 14 years with a decided whimper. Not the best way to start the riskiest year in the history of Microsoft. What did you think of the keynote? Were you expecting more?

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Asbjørn
Not really expecting any more. Microsoft’s CES keynotes have been dull for years, it is high time that somebody with something new to show get the chance.
Mario Albertico
I just really hope nobody at Microsoft wonders why the company has an image problem (the one that keeps pretty awesome products from not succeeding “because they’re from Microsoft”). I know Microsoft has other venues to show off their work and what not, but if the currently-most-popular consumer tech event has such a lame Microsoft presence (and now “goodbye”), I can’t help but understand why the mass media portray Microsoft as failing to appear “cool” and relevant. I also concede that Microsoft’s keynotes have been rather dry and more “here’s what we sold (or didn’t sell) last year” probably since Ballmer took the stage. So, it’s kind of sad when you remember the times when Bill Gates would go on stage and show off futuristic tech that had that “wow!” factor–but most of all, show off Microsoft’s invested interest in maintaining the company forward-looking/acting.
Anonymous
agree w/ all of your points, especially skype…they had almost a year during the purchase to get things ready for the green light and here we sit way after its final w/ nothing…im confused on wth is going on in their heads
- Anonymous
  To be fair to Microsoft & Skype there is reason for companies to avoid altering course until an acquisition is closed. Although the deal was announced in May it didn’t get approved in Europe until October 2011. We didn’t see Skype yank the Google toolbar from the Skype installer, for example, until after that. They’ve not even been at it 3 months.
  - Guest
    When you spend that kind of money you’re meant to have a plan. Particularly when you sell the deal as being cash flow positive following the first full year after deal approval. In other words, they’re already 1/4 of the way through that without even an external directional announcement.
Anonymous
I could not even continue to watch the video…when the choir began the “death march”
Seems as if the CEO must not know what is going on in the company or does not care any longer!!
Guest
Yeah, sad and pathetic. Their last CES keynote. A make or break year for the company. Very possibly Ballmer’s last year as CEO if he can’t turn things around and get the company growing again. And what do we get? Nothing. Complete disregard for the impact of these boring keynotes on the company’s reputation. Ballmer should have been fired at least five years ago. My bet is he’s out this year. But it’s probably too late to do much good.�
Brian
Kip are you trying to get a job under Joe Wilcox over at Betanews? Starting to sound more and more like him everyday.�
- http://www.LiveSide.net Kip Kniskern – LiveSide.net
  Now that’s an interesting question!�
  First off, of course I’m not trying to get a job at BetaNews or anywhere.�
  However blogging has changed a lot in the 6 years we’ve been running LiveSide. In the “old days”, we brought you news from obscure Microsoft blog posts and nooks and crannys around the web that you may not have noticed. But now, in the world of “retweets”, and with Microsoft clamping down on individuals posting on their own in favor of “corporate speak”, it’s either join the hundreds of blogs that basically just repost well known news, or try something different.
  Thanks for the feedback, for what it’s worth I appreciate Joe’s attempt to bring a unique voice into this retweet world we find ourselves in, but of course the goal is not to copy anyone.
http://twitter.com/jasqid jasqid
Really, Michael has an artice just above this one that says they started off with a “BANG”! So which is it?
- http://www.LiveSide.net Kip Kniskern – LiveSide.net
  Michael addressed Microsoft’s position going into the new year, and I agree that this is going to be a *VERY* interesting year for the company. My post addressed the keynote specifically, which I thought was pretty much a dud.