Steven Sinofsky

Steven Sinofsky isn’t disengaging from the industry following his departure as Microsoft Windows president. On the contrary, the product development vet put himself in the middle of the frenzy last week with a trip to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Sinofsky stayed true to his tradition by walking the show floor for 15 hours over multiple days, and producing a trip report of more than 5,400 words with his observations on everything from multi-screen trends to cameras, mobile devices and the quality of device hardware.

The only difference this time is that he no longer has an entire Microsoft division to read what he wrote. So this is pretty cool: He has posted it for the rest of us.

Ever wonder what someone like Sinofsky looks for when he walks the floor of a trade show? Now’s your chance.

Agree or disagree with his observations and conclusions, it’s a more measured and seasoned take than you probably read in much of the coverage from the show. But get one thing straight — there will be no snide remarks.

“It seemed to me that a good number of the early reports were a bit on the snarky side and reflected a view that there would not be any major disruptive or cool announcements,” he writes of the press covering the show, promising later that his report will be snark-free. “There’s no such thing as an entirely objective report as every observer has a bias, but you can make a report free from snide remarks.”

On the subject most closely related to his former job, Sinofsky shares an overview of the Windows PCs at the show — concluding optimistically that “the variety of tablets enabled by Windows will be something that continues to bring innovative ideas to consumers.”

Later, on the topic of tablet cases, he gave a nod to the Surface: “Many seem to hinder the ergonomics of the device, unfortunately. I really don’t understand why someone hasn’t built a tablet yet that has a really strong case, built in stand, and a cover that also allows typing. I said free of snark, not free of sarcasm. :-)”

The full report — starting with Sinofsky’s thoughts on best practices for trip reports — is available here.

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