Microsoft’s low-octane swan song was nothing if not symbolic of more than a decade littered with errors, missed opportunities, and the devolution of one of the industry’s innovators into a “me too” purveyor of other companies’ consumer products. The media response was dismal-the company’s last presentation, a prominent blogger wrote, was a “cruel joke.” A demo followed, which proved an embarrassment the device’s voice-to-text messaging failed and then another glitch forced a Microsoft staffer to reach for a different phone. Out came Windows Phone 7 again, which, despite widespread praise from users, had experienced bleak sales results. He burbled about his expectations for Xbox, the game console that successfully competed with Sony PlayStation. Ballmer applauded the still-long-awaited Windows 8 operating system (which as of this writing is available only as a release preview online).

Cookie Monster showed up, as did a gospel choir that belted out a bizarre song composed entirely of random tweets shot into cyberspace by who-the-hell-knows.Īs for announcements of quantum leaps into the technological future: nothing. Instead, what emerged was a gonzo spectacle, structured as a confab between Seacrest and Ballmer. Rumors had swirled throughout the day that Ballmer planned to go out in a blaze of glory, offering a peek at a yet-to-be-released stunner from a company whose recent innovations had too often been lackluster or worse. The timing for big news about its products, it said, didn’t match that of the annual high-tech pageant. Weeks earlier, the company had declared that this would be its final keynote-and, worse, that it wouldn’t even be back next year as an exhibitor to showcase new innovations.

for 14 of the previous 17 years-the first 11 by Bill Gates and the rest by Ballmer. Attendees ran from one vendor to the next, snapping up fistfuls of freebies, inhaling flavored oxygen, and rubbing elbows with stars such as LL Cool J and Justin Bieber.īut this night, an air of discomfort filled the Palazzo Ballroom, where Ballmer was about to give the show’s opening presentation, one delivered by Microsoft’s C.E.O. More than 150,000 techies and executives were swarming the city’s hotels last January in the annual bacchanalia of cutting-edge gizmos and gadgets. A 20-foot wall of video screens flashed his name as the 55-year-old Microsoft chief executive bear-hugged Ryan Seacrest, the ubiquitous television and radio host, who had just introduced Ballmer’s keynote speech for the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show. To the saccharine rhythm of a Muzak clip, Steve Ballmer crouched into a tackling stance and dashed across a ballroom stage at the Venetian Las Vegas.

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