Steve Ballmer refuses to retrace the path to Yahoo's door. On Friday, Microsoft's chief executive ruled out a full acquisition of the online group. It is not hard to fathom why. With a new administration starting next year, now is not the time to start a merger process that would inevitably be scrutinised by competition regulators. In any case, public negotiations will only send Yahoo's share price upwards, making a prospective deal that much more expensive. And, after being scorned earlier this year, it may simply be unpalatable for Microsoft's head honcho to resume good faith negotiations with chief Yahoo Jerry Yang as if nothing had happened.

However, the way is still open for a deal with Yahoo's search business, because Microsoft has a clear vision of the future. It is one where all the devices that are used for communication, entertainment or information are connected to the internet, and all the world's information is digitised.