Just because you work at Microsoft doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to buy an iPhone, right? But if you do, well ... you'd probably be wise to keep it in your pocket when the infamously volcanic Steve Ballmer is nearby, as one red-faced underling learned during a recent company meeting.
Actually, Steve took it pretty well, according to TechFlash—as in, he only pretendedto stomp on it with his foot.
So here's what happened, as reported by TechFlash and a couple of Twittering witnesses. The setting: Safeco Field in Seattle. The occasion: A demo of Project Natal, a showing of a new Windows 7 TV commercial, stand-up by SNL's Seth Meyers, and some ice-cold beer. The players: A throng of Microsoft employees and the ever-enthusiastic Ballmer, who was "slapping hands, running around, and generally whooping things up," according to TechFlash.
So far, so good, until (as recounted by TechFlash in gory detail) something caught Ballmer's eye: an employee aiming a glossy black phone at him—a phone with a telltale apple-shaped logo winking on its back.
Yep, that's right: A Microsoft employee thought it would be fun to snap a picture of Steve using his iPhone. At a Microsoft company event.
So here's what happened, as reported by TechFlash and a couple of Twittering witnesses. The setting: Safeco Field in Seattle. The occasion: A demo of Project Natal, a showing of a new Windows 7 TV commercial, stand-up by SNL's Seth Meyers, and some ice-cold beer. The players: A throng of Microsoft employees and the ever-enthusiastic Ballmer, who was "slapping hands, running around, and generally whooping things up," according to TechFlash.
So far, so good, until (as recounted by TechFlash in gory detail) something caught Ballmer's eye: an employee aiming a glossy black phone at him—a phone with a telltale apple-shaped logo winking on its back.
Yep, that's right: A Microsoft employee thought it would be fun to snap a picture of Steve using his iPhone. At a Microsoft company event.
Big oops.
To his credit, Ballmer laughed it off, TechFlash reports. Well, OK—he did grab the iPhone from the poor guy, crack a joke or two (to a chorus of boos, apparently), and then "put it on the ground and pretended to stomp on it, before walking away." And then he poked a little more fun at the staffer later in the festivities, before finally letting it go (the iPhone incident, not the employee).
The moral of the story? Before you go waving your iPhone around, ask yourself: Do I work at Microsoft (and do I like working at Microsoft)? Am I at the office, in a meeting, or a company shindig? Are senior Microsoft executives in the immediate vicinity? If you answered yes to two or more of these questions, you'd best keep that iPhone stowed.
To his credit, Ballmer laughed it off, TechFlash reports. Well, OK—he did grab the iPhone from the poor guy, crack a joke or two (to a chorus of boos, apparently), and then "put it on the ground and pretended to stomp on it, before walking away." And then he poked a little more fun at the staffer later in the festivities, before finally letting it go (the iPhone incident, not the employee).
The moral of the story? Before you go waving your iPhone around, ask yourself: Do I work at Microsoft (and do I like working at Microsoft)? Am I at the office, in a meeting, or a company shindig? Are senior Microsoft executives in the immediate vicinity? If you answered yes to two or more of these questions, you'd best keep that iPhone stowed.
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