Azure table storage - Simplest possible example

Whenever learning new technologies I like to write the simplest possible example. Usually this means a console app with the least number of references. I've been trying, with little success, to write an app that reads and writes to Azure table storage. I've used this how-to guide as a basis, but try to do everything in the Main method. Similar approach worked well with the blob storage, but the table storage is giving trouble.

I was able to create a table with this code.

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Storage.Table.CloudTableClient tableClient =
    new Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Storage.Table.CloudTableClient(
        new Uri("http://mystorage.table.core.windows.net/"),
    new Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Storage.Auth.StorageCredentials("[somename]", "[somekey]"));

    CloudTable table = tableClient.GetTableReference("people");
    table.CreateIfNotExists();
}

After running this code I could see a table in my storage using Azure Storage Explorer. (Still haven't figured out how to see the table in manage.windowsazure.com.)

However, if I try to insert records (as described in the how-to guide mentioned before), I get a conflict 409 EntityAlreadyExists. Azure Storage Explorer doesn't show any records in my table.

CustomerEntity customer1 = new CustomerEntity("Harp", "Walter");
customer1.Email = "Walter@contoso.com";
customer1.PhoneNumber = "425-555-0101";

TableOperation insertOperation = TableOperation.Insert(customer1);
table.Execute(insertOperation);

Also, I'm baffled by the two overlapping namespaces. Both Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Storage.Table and Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient contain e.g. a CloudTableClient class. Why are there two client namespaces and which one am I suppo