Ballmer in a china shop

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has long been one of the IT industry's most flamboyant figures, (a crowded field, I know).

I was heartened to see he had one of his trademark onstage freak-outs recently at a company event in Seattle when a staffer whipped out their iPhone to photograph the bald bigwig.

The sweaty software supremo snatched the handset, marched it up on stage and pretended to crush it underfoot, while his massed minions booed. Clearly irked, Ballmer continued to periodically slight the device - and the employee - as he made his presentation.

Well, it's one way of stamping out the competition. Though he might have a job dealing with the other 25 million-odd iPhones out there.