Love this…and many more wallpapers from simpledesktops.com

Just in case anyone is listening (pun), I absolutely definitely need these headphones. This is not a case of want, it’s definitely need.

If the B&W MM-1 speakers are anything to go by, these will rock the house (pub). Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Bowers and Wilkins P5 headphones. Did I mention they include a microphone which apparently is designed for an iPhone but clearly needs me to test with Lync on my PC and my Windows Phone 7. Oh and earpads crafted from the finest quality New Zealand sheep’s leather. Oh yes, this is want factor 10.

Today is my thirteen year anniversary at Microsoft and though 13 is supposed to be an unlucky number, today I feel pretty lucky. I’m about to start a new era where a hobby becomes my day job. Nope, I’m not leaving Microsoft but I will be leaving this blog a little.

A few hours ago, I hit publish on the first post on a new site called Next at Microsoft. As some of you may know, I moved to Seattle about 6 months ago and have been heads down working on a lot of things – this new site has been one of them. A lot of the type of posts you’ve seen here over the years will start to appear on Next at Microsoft. My job title these days is storyteller and this blog, which has been a hobby in many ways, is a big reason for the change. I have a passion for telling the Microsoft story and when the chance came up to turn that in to my day job, it was hard to resist. For 13 years I have resisted the pull of the mothership but the time and the job were right.

My days are now spent dashing around Microsoft’s offices here in Redmond, Bellevue, and Seattle – as well as chatting with folks on the phone in our offices around the world – gathering stories about the people, products and places where they work. Next at Microsoft will be the place I post those stories so the frequency on this blog will go down as I focus my efforts there. As some of you know, I also have a Posterous site where I post the irreverent stuff I find on the web. That will continue.

I’d like to do 3 things

1. thank you all for following, commenting and encouraging this blog. it’s never been a day job and at times has gotten me in to trouble (you know who you are), it’s won me awards and introduced me to some lifelong friends.
   
   
2. invite you to Next at Microsoft and the associated twitter handle @MSFTNext. if you like what you read here, I think you’ll like my new home. I now have greater access to a lot more of the goings on here in Redmond so you’ll hopefully see some deeper insight in to that world.
   
   
3. bring a friend with you – let your friends know about Next at Microsoft and to give it a read. no subscription fees, no penalty if they cancel their readership :)

When I walked through the doors of Microsoft UK 13 years ago, I was amazed I’d managed to bluff my way in and I’ve never looked back. Have I looked beyond Microsoft at times and thought about what’s next? Sure, everyone has I imagine but for me, right now What’s Next is Next at Microsoft.

No, I haven’t got myself an iPad and starting talking to it….I’m talking about a demo fest I helped host yesterday with the crew from Slate’s Culture Gabfest. Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner came by to check out Kinect so Ryan Moore and I took them over to our Visitor Center and showed them River Rush, Kinect Sports, Kinectimals and a few other things.

They headed to downtown Seattle that evening to record their podcast in front of a live audience and talked for quite a while about the Kinect experience. My favourite line was

“A technology that has so much crazy promise to do so many things we can’t even dream of yet”

Yep…we’re just scratching the surface. Head over to their site to hear the podcast discuss Cher and Christina Aguilera's new film Burlesque as well as "MFA vs. NYC”.