NYT: Bill Gates’ Last CES Keynote Was a "Snore"
January 6th, 2008 at 2:00 PM - Conferences by John Martellaro
LAS VEGAS - Bill Gates, the soon to be ex-Chairman of Microsoft, had little that was interesting to say at his CES keynote on Sunday, according to the New York Times Monday. In fact, it was a "snore."
"The headline from the speech was a series of partnerships to bring some movies and television programming both to Xbox and to MSN. At best, this is more of the same," Saul Hansell reported.
Mr. Gates mentioned that his [former] company will run the 2008 Olympics Website, and its Adobe Flash competitor Silverlight will be the only way to watch Olympic video online. Those without Silverlight will be out of luck.
In addition, Mr. Gates spoke of the digital decade, an often repeated theme about how "computers will change everything," Mr. Hansell wrote. "In a world where greeting cards talk to you, and shopping carts have display screens, there isn’t a luddite left who doesn’t understand this. And to the audience of CES, it’s a monumental snore."
Later, Mr. Robbie Bach, the president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, joined Mr. Gates and was able to tout a Microsoft success -- it sold 17.7 million Xbox 360 consoles in 2007.
With some other minor initiatives announced including the Tellme voice recognition telephone service, Mr. Hansel was left unimpressed and thinking that nothing new would be forthcoming from Microsoft. "...the largest software company seems to be missing the most exciting game in the world," he concluded.
Recent Headlines - Updated November 21st
- Fri, 7:07 PM
- Games - Soccer Sim Championship Manager 2010 Released for Mac
- 6:47 PM
- Games - EA Publishes Original Monopoly for iPhone
- 6:15 PM
- News - Original Apple I on Ebay for $50K, w/Letter from Steve Jobs
- 6:11 PM
- Games - New iPhone Games: Secret of the Lost Cavern Ep 1, New DJ Nights, More
- 5:47 PM
- Games - Star Trek D-A-C Game Headed to the Mac Next Month
- 4:57 PM
- Product News - TidBITS Releases “Take Control of Syncing Data in Snow Leopard”
- 4:26 PM
- John Martellaro's Blog - Particle Debris (week ending 11/20) Stationery Pads Go Poof
- 2:59 PM
- Free on iTunes - Musée du Louvre, Art Lite, SketchBook Mobile X and More.
- 1:50 PM
- Deal Brothers - Acer P215H bmid 21.5” Widescreen LCD Monitor: $139.99
- 11:24 AM
- TMO Appearances - Jeff Gamet Shares More Holiday Gift Ideas on MacJury
- 10:43 AM
- Product News - Cocktail 4.5 for Leopard Adds QuickLook Cache Clearing
- 10:06 AM
- News - Hack Enables Mac OS X 10.6.2 on Netbooks
The Mac Observer Reader Specials
- TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com
OWC: We Make DIY Upgrading Easy! Maximize your Apple MacBook / MacBook Pro. Up to 8.0GB Memory, up to 1.0TB HD & More. Easy Guide + Free, Detailed Installation Videos. Click here
If you're using a Mac, then you've gotta check out Full Tilt Poker for Mac. This Full Tilt Poker bonus code does the unthinkable, it actually rewards!For the latest Apple products use Ciao, a price comparison website, to find laptops like MacBook Air. Then find the best prices on MP3 players and use our comparison tool to evaluate mobile phones like the Apple iPhone.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.


The Evolved Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12MP Camera: $583.03 Delivered - $16.00 Drop
Panasonic Lumix 10MP Digital Camera: $275.95 Delivered - Additional $6 Drop!