COMMENTARY: Ballmer highlights Windows 7 and Xbox in bland keynote

BILL GATES WHERE ARE YOU? Really, come back. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer opened up CES last night with what has to be one of the more banal speeches I’ve seen.While insiders had expected Microsoft to use its keynote slot to debut a tablet-sized computer, all Ballmer did was briefly demonstrate a few tablet-sized computers (he called them “slates”) that run on Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. Ballmer demonstrated the device running the Amazon Kindle desktop application with the book "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer.The cover of the book shows a pair of hands cradling an “apple.” If Ballmer actually planned that,...