The best insights, observations, comments, tweets and random zingers we heard this week.
“She was competitive shopping.” — Los Angeles Fire Capt. James Carson, on a woman who used pepper spray to gain an edge over her fellow Wal-Mart shoppers in the quest for cheap Xbox and Wii games as holiday shopping season began.
“At least as a technological capability, you could argue that Microsoft has had a similar capability for more than a year, since Windows Phone 7 was introduced.” — Craig Mundie, Microsoft chief research and strategy officer, shrugging his shoulders over Apple’s Siri intelligent assistant in an interview with Forbes’ Eric Savitz.
“MS’s Craig Mundie is apparently trying out a new career as a deadpan stand-up (actually sit-down) comic.” — Rob Glaser, RealNetworks chairman (and former Microsoftie) commenting on Mundie’s statement on Twitter.
“Stain detector simo.” — how Microsoft’s Windows Phone misinterpreted the spoken phrase, “Send a text to Simone,” in a comparison with Siri on iPhone 4S by tech site TechAU. (One of its other misinterpretations, shown in the TechAU video, wasn’t nearly so family friendly.)
“Best moment yesterday at Gaffar Market was when a guy approaches me secretively and asks in a drug dealer kind of voice ‘you want USB?’ :-)” — Amazon CTO Werner Vogels, posting on Twitter from India.
“I actually managed to power through around 400 pages until I gave up and started reading Sky Mall.” — Matt Inman, a.k.a. The Oatmeal, on his first encounter with one of the Twilight books.
“The doodle adds more to our pride.” — Nasry Esmat, an Egyptian journalist, on Google’s homage to his country’s elections.
“They might try an ad encouraging people with G+ accounts to post something now and then. Plus reminds me of nothing less than the reception area at my uncle’s funeral home.” — GeekWire reader Patrick Sand in a comment on Monica Guzman’s analysis of the new Google+ television ad.
“I suspect that half the reason Google hired him is for the press benefit which you have now graciously provided.” — GeekWire reader commenting on the news that the search giant has hired a former Microsoft employee who left after landing in hot water over his tweets.
