Agreed.... But since www.pcrumors.com is well, redirected somewhere familiar I see no problem
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Microsoft to End Participation in CES Keynotes After 2012
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It's pretty obvious, especially over the last few years, that the industry relies on Apple for direction.
Exactly. Furthermore, CES is about products available for sale at retail. It serves two primary purposes:
- marketing to the press of new products
- a place for dealers to see the new products and make buying decisions for the upcoming year.
As with many other trade shows (such as Book Expo America), it was originally designed primarily with independent retailers in mind and there simply isn't that many of them left.
To a much lesser extent it's about OEM parts for product manufacturers, such as OEM hard disks, flash memory and DVD drives.
If Microsoft doesn't have anything to sell directly via retail channels, then they don't belong at the show anyway. So their keyboards, mice and accessories might belong at the show and the XBox might belong at the show and maybe Office belongs at the show, but only if there's something new to demo. Since there isn't (AFAIK), they don't need to be at the show.
The poster who claimed that CES is about concept products that never see the light of day has no idea what they're talking about. At least 90% of CES is about products available for sale to dealers. And it's a big show - I think I once calculated that it comprised 15 square miles of exhibits or something like that (maybe it was 15 linear miles of booth walking.)
Last I heard, Xbox is their revenue engine and Kinect was a CES darling. You know, it's been many years since they only did business software.....
Last I heard, Xbox is their revenue engine and Kinect was a CES darling. You know, it's been many years since they only did business software.....
And what big thing could they have that would warrant a CES keynote ? Let's be frank here, in 2010, they did a keynote on behalf of HP it seems.
Microsoft just isn't big enough in the consumer electronics space to warrant a yearly, fixed date keynote.
If we're going to be so precise, then you mean "thinking of the Slate as still vaporware", right?
Just to quote one of your recommended sites:
When that is necessary to begin an article, "vaporware" is an understatement.
I'll give them some credit....it's no Duke Nukem Forever.
Well said, Apple pulling out makes sense, Microsoft should have thought of this through, then its not like they have done enough innovation for anyone to care.
Personally, and professionally, i think MSFT is doing truly amazing things in their research units. People need to get out of their heads that MSFT aren't innovative. No, they do not do the applied focused R&D that companies such as Apple do, but that doesn't mean they're not doing amazing work on stunning innovations. Rather, the difference is that MSFT is directing their base operations at incremental changes (itself a necessity, given their market legacy), and their main R&D at explorative base research.
Two quick examples that anyone poking fun at MSFT need to see:
Photosynth (not the app):
Introduction (2006?) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p16frKJLVi0
TED presentation (2007?) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHsYnkLnepk
From picture(s) to 3d-model -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuHJUS2olyc
Think that was nice? Now look at this, something 10 times as impressive:
http://vimeo.com/31899108
Basically, this is PARC-quality stuff. And, anyone who knows anything about anything knows that is quite a feat.
From The Verge today, Kinect Fusion and Lightspace
http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/21/...ghtspace-microsoft-building-99-exclusive-tour
Vaporware is an understatement ? So let me get this straight, a product which was announced in January of 2010 but shipped in October of 2010 is more than just Vaporware ?
Or are you having problems with both the words "vaporware" and "understatement"... ? By your definition, the original iPhone is almost vaporware (announced in January, shipped in June).
I don't know why you try to discredit HP and the Slate so much, what kind of grudge you hold against that product or company, but it's really not helping you that you need to resort to these hyperboles. A little honesty goes a long way towards credibility.
The Slate isn't vaporware. It was shipped. 10 months is nothing, we've seen much worse product delays in the industry.
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Uh ? Apple pulling out makes sense... but not Microsoft ? So they should keep on making keynotes even though they have no consumer electronic devices to announce ?
What kind of logic are people using on this forum to come up with this stuff...
Lol
Once again, Softy copying Apple and right on schedule ..... years behind.
MS does a great "glacier" imitation!!!
Once again, Softy copying Apple and right on schedule ..... years behind.
MS does a great "glacier" imitation!!!
what he's saying is that Microsoft waits until Apple makes a move before it introduces a product. Apple is different because even though they aren't the firs to do something, they do it RIGHT and watch the "originals" fall behind.
sure Microsoft had tablets before Apple, but whose tablet is most successful right now? sure they had Windows Mobile before the iPhone, but what is the gold standard for smartphones right now? what is the gold standard for tablets? what's the gold standard for mp3 players?
http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/21/2654285/the-truth-about-microsoft-and-ces
"...it seems that the less exciting story is actually the most accurate one. Apparently last year the CEA requested that Microsoft sign on for another three-year deal for keynoting and presenting at CES. We're told that Microsoft declined that offer and accepted only a single year deal (covering 2012) which would indicate a lead-up to the more comprehensive move the company announced today."
Microsoft is only going to attend this last one because they believe the world will end before the 2013 show.
The whole purpose of the Slate was to beat other companies, mainly Apple, but not exclusively Apple, to the punch for tablets. It was half-assed and they claimed it would come out before the iPad, originally. It was foolish grandstanding by a company that is proving itself foolish in many ways the last few years. The marketplace for tablets went from essentially nonexistant to an explosion by fall of 2010. And in Oct this one finally, QUIETLY hit the scene. And it's just the next Win-tablet model, those have been out for years selling next to zero units. Compared to the iPad, Xoom, Galaxies...it is a joke.Vaporware is an understatement ? So let me get this straight, a product which was announced in January of 2010 but shipped in October of 2010 is more than just Vaporware ?
Or are you having problems with both the words "vaporware" and "understatement"... ? By your definition, the original iPhone is almost vaporware (announced in January, shipped in June).
I'm just reporting news here, I don't have any sort of grudge against them. Their antics are proving their foolishness, I don't have to do that for them. Although I have given up on their printers for any sort of networking since their drivers have gone downhill, I guess you can read into that if you'd like. I don't even own any 7-10" tablet. So far. (well, there are 2 Kindles at my house)
Why are you standing up for them so dramatically? Is it because you own HP products? So do I. We are just (AFAIK) bystanders discussing companies that we have no serious interest in. You not admitting that this particular product is a joke is also a form of hyperbole, not that I'm admitting to particularly exaggerated commentary. I guess I should give HP and Ballmer credit for recognizing that something was actually going to happen in 2010 in the tablet market.
If the Slate's saga was the commentary of a poster here at MR--early hyperbole, failure to meet expectations, lame retractions, finally coming up with a product that was basically just a new model to bore us--you'd be all over them.
Last I heard, Xbox is their revenue engine and Kinect was a CES darling. You know, it's been many years since they only did business software.....
Darling to whom? MS becuase they had nothing else to show?
Xbox and Kinext belong to the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), not the same as CES
It was "announced" with
NO demo
NO release date
NO price
NO specs
Surely they had a working product at the time.
Does an Xbox 360 and Kinect not count as Consumer Electronics? What about Microsoft PC gizmos like Mice, Keyboards and Webcams?
If Microsoft focuses too much attention on Xbox / Kinect, several groups of people will become very worried. Microsoft's Windows, Office, and enterprise software groups seem to have the most political power within the company. They may have had a hand in killing off KIN, Danger, and Zune, and they don't want Microsoft to turn into a gaming company. They want to milk all those corporate IT clients forever. They're just as locked-in as Microsoft is. Any other business unit is a (potentially costly) distraction.
Microsoft's major investors also wouldn't like it if Ballmer shilled Xbox (and mice, keyboards, and webcams) at CES. The bulk of MS' profits come from Windows + Office. Always have, always will. (And by the way, they'd be happy if Microsoft killed off Bing, which loses nearly $1 billion per quarter, but that's a different post.)
And, seriously, it's looking more and more like the Consumer Electronics Association gave Microsoft the hook. And less and less likely that Microsoft said "OK, we're done. We don't want to talk about Windows Phone until it's actually successful, so we'll just shut up until we have something happy to say."
14 straight years of hyping Windows on desktops and "slates" in CES keynotes.
The sound you hear is 2 or 3 crickets chirping. Time for some new blood.
No they don't. You even admit so much yourself.
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It was "announced" with
NO demo
NO release date
NO price
NO specs
Surely they had a working product at the time.
Your point ? It's still not vaporware, it's a shipped and sold product. Must I point it out to you again ?
And what are you on about "NO demo" ? What was Ballmer holding up there on stage at CES 2010 ?
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Moving goalposts I see. I never commented on the Slate (frankly I think all tablets are gimmicks, including Android tablets, the iPad, the Windows tablet, the Maemo stuff Nokia shipped years ago, name it..) itself. So I don't get where you say I'm "exagerating" or "hyperboling" when all I'm stating are plain facts. It exists. It's for sale. It took 10 months from announcement to release. Facts.
I'm simply correcting your (and other people's) misinformation. I have no further agenda than that. You're just reporting news ? What news, you didn't even know the Slate had shipped at all not 3 weeks ago! You're not reporting anything, you were spreading misinformation.
Those are more entertainment/games related, more appropriate to the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), not quite the same as CES