Steve Ballmer on stage now...

 
And yes, I'm PST. Will check back after lunch.

UPDATE: Cool, it's there now (1:38pm) and Cheap Trick opens ... nice! Are you ready to rock?!

At around 7 minutes into it, Balmer said, "...maybe a little more bake time..."  I read that as, "Some people are complaining about the quality of the RTM."

where? is the video available for download or is still stream-only?

Does Visual Web Developer support IntelliSense for XSLT?

So you download the express editions. I thought you get the Full Standard Edition when you attend?

Mateusz

Matt_Rajca wrote:

So you download the express editions. I thought you get the Full Standard Edition when you attend?

Mateusz

You do.

The Express editions are available to anyone - even those who don't attend - and can be downloaded now.

scobleizer wrote:

Manip wrote: Tell us about it seven minutes after its started... No wonder I missed it... Perhaps a couple of hours warning?

Sorry, the recording will be up at 1 p.m.

No, I'm sorry... I was just annoyed about missing it and it isn't your responsibility to remind me.


I finally saw it and have to say: How many people are getting fired tomorrow?

Worst launch ever, I mean is this a rock show or a technology product launch? Go watch an Apple launch and learn a thing or two.

Manip wrote:

scobleizer wrote: Manip wrote: Tell us about it seven minutes after its started... No wonder I missed it... Perhaps a couple of hours warning? Sorry, the recording will be up at 1 p.m.

No, I'm sorry... I was just annoyed about missing it and it isn't your responsibility to remind me.


I finally saw it and have to say: How many people are getting fired tomorrow?

Worst launch ever, I mean is this a rock show or a technology product launch? Go watch an Apple launch and learn a thing or two.

Can you be more specific?  What turned you off?

Everything up until Steve B. was on stage (generic rock, long boring video about posters, flashing 'rock' all over...)..... Then everything Steve says up until he starts talking about the product, which is basically just a string of business buzzwords which really don't mean anything.

Why doesn't he just get on stage and talk about the new features? The prices and why people should buy it? Why stand there are talk about innovation and the .Net platform and bluh bluh bluh bluh bluh...

I put music on to drown out Blamer while he went on and on until he got to interesting things.

Larsenal wrote:

Can you be more specific?  What turned you off?

heh, this is manip who's posted - have you ever seen him turned on by ANYTHING?!

I watched up to the end of Steve Ballmer talking and thought it was OK. It got a bit of excitement going. Fact is if you're out of the office for a day it's fun and gets people enthused.

My criticism would be of the 'Rock Star' video. It reminded me of some of those 'show the crowd how cool we are' videos shown at PDC - they're ALMOST there but not quite. Like the Bill Gates/Napoleon Dynamite special at PDC, or in this case the "Rock Star" video - too many awkward bits or slightly embarrassing moments that make you squirm a bit and make you realise you're not watching a really slick video but nerds trying to look cool and not always pulling it off.
 
Personally I always feel sorry for the rock acts who have to appear at these gigs. Great idea to get the crowd talking about the event but imagine if you're the band - having to play to a bunch of seated developers who sit politely waiting for the main event.

irascian wrote:

Larsenal wrote: Can you be more specific?  What turned you off?

heh, this is manip who's posted - have you ever seen him turned on by ANYTHING?!

Hey! It isn't my fault so much stuff sucks.... There are a few things I can think of that suck less than other things, if you want to hear them just ask...

But don't be surprised if you hear someone shouting "boring" at the London launch event

Manip wrote:

But don't be surprised if you hear someone shouting "boring" at the London launch event

LOL!

I'll be the one you can hear snoring in his seat during the quiet bits: Registration for the Ascend Partners Launch breakfast (held just before the main event) is 7.30am, and I have to get across London first.

Don't they know that we're developers and developers aren't good at early starts?!

I guess they need the loud rock music to make sure we're awake and paying attention!

Heh. Forget what attendees get, what about us official beta testers? Anything neat? Maybe one of those cool neon Visual Studio logo signs..

-Eric

ricodued wrote:

Heh. Forget what attendees get, what about us official beta testers? Anything neat? Maybe one of those cool neon Visual Studio logo signs..

-Eric

Given the amount of whining on here recently from people complaining about not being able to get the beta's I think that giving beta testers presents on top of the software could cause something close to World War III here on the boards!

irascian wrote:

Given the amount of whining on here recently from people complaining about not being able to get the beta's I think that giving beta testers presents on top of the software could cause something close to World War III here on the boards!

Hehe. Just checking

irascian wrote:

Personally I always feel sorry for the rock acts who have to appear at these gigs. Great idea to get the crowd talking about the event but imagine if you're the band - having to play to a bunch of seated developers who sit politely waiting for the main event.

Microsoft. Cheap Trick. Could this be subliminal?

irascian wrote:

I watched up to the end of Steve Ballmer talking and thought it was OK. It got a bit of excitement going. Fact is if you're out of the office for a day it's fun and gets people enthused.

Now, despite generally liking Microsoft, Steve Ballmer is not my cup of tea. It is that motivational coach style that turns me off. Mark Miller (the CodeRush guy) is more my style. Or, in the fictional character realm, Spock. So sincere and informed overdrive or just the facts presented in a sober fashion. Maybe Steve is sincerely enthousiastic but it comes across, at least to me, as that calculated presentation so many managers use to compensate for lack of content and as a pre-emptive strike against any critics, who'll come across as grumpy killjoys. The 'let's go get'em' peptalk doesn't work for me. The second presentation got me back into Visual Studio after nearly jumping out.

But that's just me

TDavid wrote:

Microsoft. Cheap Trick. Could this be subliminal?

Was thinking the same thing. Someone had a wicked sense of humor.