Frank Shaw, VP of Corporate Communications at Microsoft, posted a blog Wednesday announcing that the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in 2012 will be its last. Steve Ballmer will give one last keynote speech, and Microsoft will have a showcase booth at the biggest technology expo of the year, but this is the last year. Citing differences in Microsoft's product release dates, milestones, and the ways they now communicate with their customers, Shaw says that they had to make a decision. Says Shaw: "Our industry moves fast and changes faster. And so the way we communicate with our customers must change in equally speedy ways. To ensure it does, we constantly challenge our assumptions. For example: · What’s the right time and place to make announcements? · Are we adjusting to the changing dynamics of our customers? · Are we doing something because it’s the right thing to do, or because “it’s the way we’ve always done it”? After thinking about questions like these, we have decided that this coming January will be our last keynote presentation and booth at CES." This will end a nearly twenty-year run with CES, and Microsoft is one of the bigger players on the show floor. It will be interesting to see if this decision affects Microsoft, CES or any of the other exhibitors. To read the entire blog entry, click here.