Don't expect Microsoft to support you plugging your Kinect into a PC any time soon

It's amazing how quickly a small comment snowballs into something massive.

I present to you this small exchange between Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and BBC Click's Spencer Kelly:

Kelly: "Will you plug-in the Kinect to the PC, will you go for that in the near future?"

Ballmer: "We'll support that in a formal way in the right time, and when we've got an announcement to make we'll make it."

Immediately the blogosphere leaped on this comment and takes it to mean that Kinect is coming to the PC in a Microsoft-endorsed way as opposed to using homebrew open source drivers.

Uhh, really?

I've watched that clip a few times and all I see is an example of Ballmer caught out by an unexpected question and reacting accordingly. He didn't say yes, and didn't say no. But really he didn't say much at all.

Nothing said in that very small clip suggests that we should start holding our breath in anticipation.

There's no doubt in my mind that a motion-based sensor will come to the PC (ASUS and PrimeSense are planning to do just that), but I don't see Microsoft bringing the 1st-generation Kinect to the PC. Kinect support would mean more than just drivers, but also games and software - a coordinated launch.