News

So ... who started this style, then?

So ... Tech-Ed is always a chance to catch up with the latest Redmond thinking.

At first, I thought the indomitable Tony Goodhew was trying to start a fight.

He was having lunch with a group of analysts and reporters at Tech-Ed, Barcelona, and one of them asked: "Are you interested in tennis?" - a reasonable question during the last week of Wimbledon.

His response was to put his fists on the table. They are formidable fists. He glowered. He does a good glower. "So ... I haven't had a chance to see much of the play this year," he said. Phew. It was OK to breathe.

After a while, it became apparent that he responded to any question with: "So ... " And he isn't alone in Redmond, it seems. Ask anybody senior a question. Any question. "What is the colour of the sky on your planet?" They will reply: "So ... in the first place, we have a different colour of sky." Or whatever is appropriate.

Ask me, where did this come from? So ... where do you think it originated? Is it Anders? Who started it?