Worried or buoyed? Ballmer is both

Reporters are known to hang on Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer's every word, maybe expecting something brash or outlandish.

Last week was no exception, minus the bombast.

Before a speech at the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Ballmer told Bloomberg News that the troubled financial environment is likely to cut into what businesses spend on software and equipment. The size of a federal bailout to prop up the financial-services industry could make companies respond with caution, he said.

"It would be really imprudent for anybody to not have that in mind," Ballmer told Bloomberg.

Then, on Thursday, Ballmer had a little cheerier perspective on the same subject.

Again with Bloomberg reporting, Ballmer told the Churchill Club in Silicon Valley that the nation's financial woes haven't cast as big a shadow on the technology industry as some might think.

"As I travel and talk to people in the industry — on the tech side, telecom side — given the current circumstances, people see a certain buoyancy in the market," Ballmer said, according to Bloomberg. "People that I talk to in our business are — I wouldn't say optimistic — but are better than you would feel if you were to watch CNBC all day."

Look for more reports of Ballmer utterances this week as he takes a swing through Europe for various appearances and meetings.

Then there's January, when he keynotes the giant Consumer Electronics Show. Ballmer is taking Chairman Bill Gates' high-profile spot on the show's roster.

For 12 years, Gates gave the keynote address before the show kicked off. Attendees lined up for hours in advance to hear him talk about the future of technology. He invited rock stars, comedians and entertainers to share the stage with him.

After Gates' last CES keynote address earlier this year, speculation has swirled around who would replace him and whether Microsoft would still be given the prime slot on the industry's biggest stage.

Now we know it will, and it'll be Ballmer giving the talk.

We can hardly wait.

Making connections

If you think you've seen more white buses with green trim on roads around here, your eyes aren't deceiving you.

A year after Microsoft launched a bus service to ferry employees from communities around the region to its Redmond campus, the company is expanding the Connector again.

On Oct. 6, the company is launching service to nine more areas: Redmond Ridge, Monroe, Snohomish / Woodinville, West Seattle, Columbia City/Mount Baker, Leschi/Madrona /Madison Park, Maple Valley, South Everett (extension of the current Mill Creek Express route), and Kent/Tukwila-Renton (extension of the current Tukwila / Renton Express route).

The company is also modifying other routes and schedules.

The expansion comes five months after the company added routes to North Seattle and the Eastside.

So far, 8,650 employees have used the service for a total of 380,000 rides, according to Microsoft.

Earlier this month, the governor recognized the company with Commute Smart award for best new program. The Connector has reduced Microsoft's single-occupant vehicle rate from 66 percent to 62 percent in one year, according to the Commute Smart program.

Download, a column of news bits, observations and miscellany, is gathered by The Seattle Times technology staff. We can be reached at 206-464-2265 or biztech@seattletimes.com.