“After watching the opening keynote of the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Wednesday night, I sat at a casino bar considering what I’d seen. When a friendly bartender asked me what I’d been up to, I explained I had just watched the CEO of Microsoft give a speech,” David M. Ewalt writes for Forbes.
“‘Bill Gates?’ he asked. ‘Wow,'” Ewalt writes. “It’s an easy mistake to make. Bill Gates gave the opening keynote at CES 12 times, including his swan song last year, after which he handed over the spot to long-time colleague–and CEO since 2000–Steve Ballmer.”
Ewalt writes, “In some ways, Ballmer didn’t have a lot to live up to. Gates may be a legend, but he’s got his intellect, not his stage presence, to thank for that.”
MacDailyNews Take: If by “intellect,” Ewalt means “total lack of ethics,” he’d be right.
Ewalt continues, “Those 12 CES keynotes were generally awkward affairs, tepid pitch-fests where the few bright points were jokes at Gates’ own expense, or when things went wrong. Gates never exhibited the whiz-bang showmanship of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, whose Macworld keynotes made fans swoon.”
“We might have anticipated a misfire even before [Ballmer’s] keynote started,” Ewalt reports. “As conference-goers filed into the room to take their seats, the loud music welcoming them included a song from The Ting Tings called ‘Shut Up And Let Me Go.’ It’s a ditty probably best known for its use in a widely broadcast TV commercial for Apple’s iPod and iTunes music store.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “JES42” for the heads up.]