The Engadget Interview: Bill Gates, Part 1
posted May 2nd 2005 1:13PM
We couldn't pin him down for as long as we'd have liked, but Bill sat down with us at last week's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference for a one-on-one. The clock ran out before we were able to ask him about Portable Media Center, what smartphone he uses, and of course, getting knighted (among other things), but we were able to rap with him about the launch of the next Xbox console, whether or not Microsoft is going to come out with a competitor for the PlayStation Portable, and the future of Windows Mobile (plus lots more in part 2, which goes up tomorrow):
Thanks for taking the time to meet with me today. First off I wanted to ask you about the next Xbox console, which is arguably going to be the biggest Microsoft launch of the year. Why launch the console on MTV as opposed to E3? Do you risk alienating the original Xbox's audience of hardcore gamers by going mass market from day one?
I'm going to call it Xenon, that's the codename for the thing; Xenon is good enough that we'll have no problem. Hardcore gamers are going to love Xenon because of the applications that are on Xenon. And it's not just the technical specs. It's the partnership we have with the game creators and we're going to have this next generation machine out so that it's going to be timed with high definition becoming very mainstream.
We've learned a lot from Xbox 1. In Xbox 1 we let ourselves sort of be second in and to not have the momentum. We had to learn a lot about building the partnerships. We're new to the industry so people naturally didn't know if we were hardcore committed to the thing. We've really gotten over that now and so it's been a lot easier this time around, but we want to broaden video gaming, and without giving up any of the hardcore players we want more women, older people [to be playing games]. We're going to have games that are more sociable, more approachable, particularly by taking this idea of Xbox Live and bringing in contests and spectators and ratings and talking to your friends and various new things there we think we can make it much bigger category than it's ever been to date. That is important for us.
When the original Xbox came out it was widely thought that the inclusion of a hard drive is what gave the console a competitive edge over the PlayStation 2 and the GameCube. What is going to be the next Xbox's competitive edge? Even though the PlayStation 3 is debuting later, it seems likely to include more advanced components like a Blu-ray drive.
That'll be interesting to see. Sony is sort of committed to that, but if you look at the cost and complexities and
timing of that, we'll have to see. With the Xbox, remember what we're delivering is the experience, and so when you
have better tools, better software, and this better live experience where all your friends are up there on Live, that's
where you can connect to them and compete with them, it's going to be pretty phenomenal. We want to have the best
experience there, and we obviously saw with something like Halo 2 that when you get the pieces together it's amazing
the phenomena you can create around that.
How is the next Xbox going to fit into the rest of Microsoft's home entertainment strategy? Will it be able to double
as a digital entertainment hub?
I'm not sure what you mean by the word hub there. Often we would think of the Media Center PC as being the hub and
then the living room being able to connect up to all the music on the PCs in the house, all the photos on the PCs in
the house, and having remote display capabilities so that if you've got video up on that PC, then great you can watch
it, connect to it, set up to record it right with a remote control in the living room. So the high-end scenario for us
is you've got Media Center PC, that's where your state is, but then you've got your Xenon out that are connecting up to
that. Xenon itself will have some neat capabilities, but we're in pre-introduction here, and that group is brilliant
about the unveiling. They've been very coy up 'til this point and I wouldn't want to steal any of their thunder.
But what if someone doesn't have a Media Center PC, will the Xbox have some of that same
functionality?
It won't be a Media Center PC, so there's some things you won't be able to do. You'll be able to do a lot of media
things including storing music, playing music, connect up your player. There's an overall media vision, and we
certainly see households that just have Xenons in them, and we see households that have normal PCs and Xenons, and we
see households that have media center PCs and Xenons. We're going to make all those do what you'd expect.
Have you had a chance to play with the PlayStation portable?
Actually yeah. Because we both work with Sony and compete with Sony, Kutaragi and Idei were here some months ago, and
they sent me one even before it was in the marketplace. We're not in that segment of the business. I don't know if he
would have done the same with the PS3, but so he sent a PSP and that was very nice.
I know that in the past you've indicated that Microsoft wasn't planning to introduce a competitor into the
portable gaming space, but has your position changed at all? What would make Microsoft get into portable
gaming?
Right now our entertainment group is very
focused on Xenon and doing an absolutely fantastic job on Xenon, and it's very exciting to see how that is coming
together. In the portable space you have to think of okay what will the phone become over time. The phone is sort of
trumps everything. It trumps media players, it trumps cameras, it trumps GPS-mapping devices, digital wallets, and even
entertainment. And obviously we're in the phone software space. We have partners who build the hardware there. And so
I'm not sure that you'll ever see us do something that's a game-only device. I think you'll see us do flavors of the
phone that are better for gaming and have an affinity to PC gaming and Xenon gaming, but and we're doing a bit of that
now. Nothing dramatic. We see a generation of phones coming that really can do this without too much compromising being
available in the two to four year time frame. So at least in that sense we'll roll out some portable gaming. Right now
we don't see a dedicated device on our road map.
The next version of Windows Mobile is due out later this year, what is Microsoft going to do to overtake
Symbian as the dominant operating system for smartphones?
You really wouldn't say Symbian, they're really just an ingredient provider to a few people. You really have to say
Nokia, because they're the ones who take that and add a bunch of things to it and change it, who create a user
interface around it. Really you can say it either way.
If you ask our mobile phone guys, when they do a comparison, they're comparing what Nokia's getting in the market, and
what Treo [palmOne], and RIM are getting into the marketplace. They look at those end products and think of those
services. Obviously there's a business market where connecting up to Office and Outlook is a very big deal and as we're
making Office better we can have the phone evolve—essentially what's the best Outlook in the phone... we ought to be able
to do a really great job of that. You also have down in the consumer space this idea that as you get camera features in
and data browsing in it plays much more to our strengths. It's much more of a software device, and so setting it up so
that every photo you take just shows up on your MSN Space without any work, or everything you've got on the phone just
shows up on your PC in a simple way.
You mention the consumer space, but so far there hasn't been much emphasis on hardware running Windows Mobile
as consumer-centric devices. It seems like so far it's positioned almost entirely towards business users. Is Windows
Mobile 2005 going to be more consumer-friendly?
Our mobile phone strategy includes consumer up to business users. It's fair to say that we've sold a lot more to the
business user. It's very typical for Microsoft, we anticipated hardware getting more powerful and so we hit a high
hardware design point. For example saying, "Hey, let's go for 32-bit." And then we couldn't even run on the 16-bit
devices. Now everything we require [in terms of specs] is coming down into the consumer price point. So, yes, in terms
of getting a high share of the volume that we're ambitious over time to get we need to have consumer phones and
business phones. The taxonomy isn't going to stay so static, where those are so isolated. Remember the PC; part of its
beauty is that when you go home you use the same interface that you use at business, and so you can do your family
planning while you're in the business, you can do your work while you're at home.
With phones over time you won't have to think, okay the trade-ups are just to make this a business device or just to
consumer device. And some of the really interesting stuff, like where you take a photo and it recognizes that that's a
sign you want translated or that's an address you want to see a map related to, or it's an expense report so you just
OCR it and get it into expense software. The kind of automatic behavior that can come out of deep software running on
the phone, that plays to our strength. I'd say the same thing to you about the phone as the video game. Why did we get
into video games? Because we saw a huge software component in tools, run times, and applications. Likewise on phones
we're able to get our partners' hardware capability from many different partners— Motorola, Samsung, a lot of companies
around Asia—and then we bring the connection to Office, the connection to the PC into of that. So we're just at the
beginning of our mobile phone thing, because speech recognition, visual recognition, and data is just beginning to be a
meaningful thing in terms of phone usage. Mail, yes. That's started. But data is just getting reasonably priced.
But how do you get Windows Mobile to that mass market acceptance? Does the interface have to become dramatically more
simple, more intuitive for people who don't necessarily need the expanded capabilities a business user or power-user
looks for? If I gave my mom the Audiovox SMT 5600 I think she'd probably have some trouble figuring everything
out.
Well, automatic provisioning is a very good thing for all user classes, not just consumers. And so we will do that for
all user classes. In fact, in some cases sometimes you'll want to actually go to a PC and pick your preferences and
things like that and then have that just show up on the phone. So you could do it. If you want to help her you could do
that on your PC. There's a lot of simplicity, but I don't see that as only a consumer thing. There's no nothing
inherent about Windows Mobile that impedes us in anyway from competing for the full spectrum of phone users. These
phones are rich 32-bit data-oriented and you want to connect up to the Internet and the PC so that plays to our
strength.
Is the goal to have a Windows Mobile phone in every pocket just like the goal is to have a Windows PC on every
desk?
Well there'll always be tons of operating systems. There'll always be tons of software stacks in mobile phones. We're
trying to make the best software we can and we have no shortage of ideas where we can make that phone way better than
it is today.
What comes after Windows Mobile 2005? Is it just further refinement and evolution of the
platform?
When you get visual recognition in there is that an evolution? When you get speech recognition in there is that an
evolution? When you get the kind of mapping GPS stuff that's so powerful? When you get the "Are my friends near me,
then notify me" type of stuff? There's so much happening in that mobile phone space that we've had to get super
reliability, super testing stuff, get the foundation, get the credibility. I'd say in some ways the mobile phone space
is a little bit like Xbox, where it took many years to get the foundation and get the credibility where you've got
hardware relationships, where you've got higher ARPU on your device and you can show you're connecting up to different
things, and so we're poised now with the phone thing to have more of an impact.
Check back tomorrow for part two of our interview with Bill Gates, where we discuss HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray, IPTV,
Windows Media Center, and why Tablet PC has struggled so much.
UPDATE: If you're looking for part 2 of our interview, it's right
here.
Wow.. nice read. Good job, engadget.
Very nice interview! It sounds like Xbox 360 will have a few surprises left at the unveiling. I still can't imagine Bill using that PSP all too often... :)
Nice job.
Did you ask him about his nightmare: Tiger on PC lol
Go go engadget interview!
No, really... it's nice to see the bloggers win again =). Must've been nice getting the chance to interview arguably the most powerful man in the world.
Great read. Interview to me kind of undermined the possibilities of an uber Xbox360 model. Had Microsoft wanted to introduce the Xbox360 as a media hub type device, then surelly it would consist of them same features? Unless they want to keep segmentation of the market. Will be interesting to see.
Wow that is one hell of an Interview. I would have asked him about the PSP and Apple Tiger.
I also would have asked him about Outsourcing, H1b Visas and MS's questionable political actions.
as much as i hate bill gates, an interesting read...
Very Impressive interview... I can't wait to read part two, it looks even better.
"I think youll see us do flavors of the phone that are better for gaming and have an affinity to PC gaming and Xenon gaming"... interesting.
sounds like they want to scale up the service offering side of things... yes, give you cool hardware but what can you (mainstream users) do with it? gone are the days of dedicated software to run within a product platform - think rolling, monthly subscription to services (gaming, productivity, interactivity, social networking, etc.) that's the only way they are going to keep these special events working otherwise it's going to be a giant money pit with no dedicated (locked in due to subscripts) users. it will be interesting to see how long they can sustain any sort of momentum across such varying degrees of game franchises... and is MS going to be a 'broker' in it all or are they going to leave it up to the distributors and gaming companies (sony, electronic arts, mom'n-pops, et.a l.) to deal with the logistics of keeping the end user happy and interested.
Great work Peter!
Was Coke a sponsor? LOL :D
Congrats on securing this interview Engadget!!! Your credibility continues to rise in the online world!!
I was worried before that MS was going to undermine their Media Center offering with Xbox 360, and I am worried no longer. This is a good thing, IMO. Lots of people expected the Xbox 360 to act as a media center but MS already has a media center product and it works better than anything they could shoe-horn into a game console would be able to. The Xbox is, however, the perfect device to act as a Media Center Extender, which the Xbox 1 already does, and it sounds like he's saying the 360 will do the same. So, they're not rocking the boat here, just continuing to press what's turning into a fairly successful strategy. (And btw, Apple's really missing the boat on the whole media center thing if you ask me; MS is gonna have this locked up within the next few years and it's going to be a huge market for them.)
I was less impressed by what he said about phones, specifically a) that the phone is some sort of all-encompassing device that trumps everything else, and b) his implication that basically business users are the high-end users and consumers are the low-end users. I think that's backwards. Businesses want low-cost, security-minded devices that have one or two functions that work well without frills - this is why Blackberries are so popular in business while 3 megapixel cameraphones are not.
It's no skin off my back because I don't really care to have Windows running on my phone but he's just got the market all wrong. It's consumers that want the whiz-bang new features and the flash, and are willing to pay for it (look at the Razr - how many businesses bought up a shipment of those to hand out to their employees? It's strictly a consumer device).
And he's also wrong that phone "trumps media players, it trumps cameras, it trumps GPS-mapping devices, digital wallets, and even entertainment." I think people with this sort of mindset are just looking at raw numbers without putting any thought into how or why people use the devices they do - yes, the market in phones is big, but people are not buying them *instead* of other devices, and many of them are given out for free with a contract. So unless you're in the business of selling a service, you're not really gaining much from those sales. There is a segment of the public that will pay $$$ for a phone, but there is also a segment of the public that will pay $$$ for an iPod or a PSP. He's basically ignoring that market because he wants to put out products that only appeal *both* to business users *and* that "trickle down" into the consumer market... either that or he's still got his convergence blinders on, but he seems to have otherwise given up on that idea given his talk of segmenting the Xbox 360 and Media Center PC's.
The irony is that Microsoft could put together a mobile gaming platform virtually overnight if they wanted to. About all they'd need to do is take an Axim X50v (which has the VGA screen and 2700G graphics accelerator, which is the same chip as the Dreamcast uses, albeit at a slower speed,) put a decent D-pad and buttons on it and get some big-name developers to sign on (there's plenty of developer support for the Windows Mobile platform already, but almost exclusively limited to mobile only developers like Hexacto, PDAMill and Resco) and they'd have a mobile games platform that could compete with the PSP. Of course, cost would be an issue (but going down to a QVGA screen would help there) but I think MS could be in the mobile games market very quickly if they were so inclined.
Score one for engadget on getting that interview... damn... I woulda been sweatin, however, he didn't tell us anything new... just watched what he said.
Jeff, I think his point is that everyone has their cellphones with them all the time and if you can create something thats a success in the cellphone market, you can have something that reaches such a significant chunk of the population. The ring tone industry, for example, is huge because of cell phones. Once something is good enough to reach saturation in the cell phone market, you have something very profitable on your hands, whereas with the other things he mentioned, this isn't the case.
Hmmm.... Its interesting to see how BillG spins about MS and how great they are. Xbox they have taken the PC game concept to console market which is good to give both Sony & Nintendo a wake up call. In Xbox MS was beating its chest and proclaiming about its hardware power and in Xbox2 they are side stepping it now. For the all hype about xbox2 and doubts about PS3, there would be surprises about PS3. HD-DVD vs Blu-ray, both of them use blue laser and its the way to go. Definitely agree about the social aspect of live and if sony replicates it in their PS3, then there is no unique advantage. Its repeat of all the online gaming history. Origin started with online games and hordes of company followed it. So unless Live can truly have something different that is not available in either PC game market or Console market then it can be replicated by both Sony and Nintendo.
Mobile Phone, they just followers using their market clout to beat the competitor, if they have to compete fairly would be lost by now. All the development in the mobile is not being done by M$, its happening outside of windows platform driven by DoCoMo and so forth.
The buisness market is driven by RIM and Treo, MS playing catch up. For all the things that are being said about mobile phone, battery power is very important. PSP battery comes for about 4hrs, you cannot have that on a phone. When you cramp eveyrthing into the phone, the battery life would be even more worse. Its the battery life that would determine the level of integration in the phone.
Nice work guys!!!!
great analysis Jeff (#10), u should become the new engadget analyst/trend watcher ;)
Nice interview. Not a "yo" to be found.
wow... this is huge! really great interview.
I still can't imagine Bill using that PSP all too often... :)
---
Well, you're forgetting one thing: Bill thinks portable video on a 4" screen is a good idea, so .. yeah.. Sony agrees with him. Unfortunately, the public won't.
Re: 10
The Xbox 360 could easily run circles around a Windows Media Center if Microsoft chose to add those features to it.
A perfect example of this is Xbox Media Center for the current generation of Xbox. It is astounding how much more elegant it is compared to a Windows Media Center PC. The only problem with XBMC is that due to the lack of a TV Tuner, the current Xbox cannot function as a DVR. Other than that an Xbox paired with a 400GB hard drive is a perfect, self contained media center. Add in the fact that media can be easily streamed from the Internet or Samba shares and it's hard for Windows Media Center to match up.
he looks thinner than he used to. ive interviewed some important people (or they WERE important..), i donno if i could talk to bill without drooling or trying to see what he had in his pockets or something. unless this was edited or a bunch of stuff wasnt included, nice restraint :] good reading except for the bit about phones, where i agree he was way off. i also would rather not have windows on my phone, ive always found it sluggish and not as phoney as a palm phone. unless theyve change something or something. i dont pay very close attention :D i DO know that if badass smartphones were available like they are in korea/japan/elsewhere people would buy them. they just arent in the us at ALL. go to cingular/tmobile/any places site, the phones all suck. every one. and 700 for an unlocked treo...no thanks. then people are forced to buy them off ebay or bhuy a lower end model. i think theyre fuxing the numbers themselves. put them out there and people will definetly buy them
It's pretty funny hearing posters comment on how Bill Gates doesn't have good business sense. :)
Bill Gates and Microsoft are a disease. First they have totally destroyed the computer industry with their OS and monopoly, which is all thanks to IBM (who regret now what they have done. In fact, they now use Linux instead of Microsoft's crappy Windows OS). Windows is technically about 12 years behind other operating systems (especially Macintosh and Linux). All that Microsoft does is stealing other people's ideas and paying off courts when they getting sued for it. Microsoft sucks so much they couldn't even create good Office applicatians, so they added anti-Lotus codes to their OS to make Lotus produce errors. That's how MS Office became a standard. Microsoft coulnd't even create a browser, so they paid off Spyglass, created IE, including in their OS, and "won" from Netscape and as if that wasn't enough, Microsoft stole countless of ideas from Netscape and recreated it in their crappy products (i.e. JavaScript-JScript). XBox is another pathetic excuse to extend their monopoly. They couldn't even come up with a video game console, so they made a small PC and labeled it "XBox" (actually, they paid off others to make the hardware). It's unbelievable to see how many people are dumb enough to buy into this Microsoft hoax. The only purpose of the XBox is wipe out every other videogame console developer by making it almost equal to a PC (which Microsoft currently dominates with their crappy OS). They have done it with Windows, IE, Office, MSN, Windows Media Player, etc, and now they are doing again with XBox. If Microsoft didn't had they money they have now (which they have "earned" from their antisocial monopoly) they would have gone bankrupt. Bill Gates should be put to death.
After reading what Stalfos wrote, I totally agr33 d00dz. W1nbl0wz sux0rz...
Oh wait, hey, look, it is an OS zealot! What zoo are you missing from, chief?
Just to throw some gasoline on your flame, Stalfos, LINUS TORVALDS SUCKS **** AT TRUCKSTOPS!
lol @ OS Zealots
You should have been taking notes with a Tablet PC instead of a pad of paper ;)
Great interview, im really interested in the new version of Windows Mobile, i use my SMT 5600 and its the best phone ive ever used in years, plus of course the softwre is top notch. I cant wait to see what Magneto will bring
i'm shocked there are no apple people in here whining yet. jk. great interview can't wait for part 2.
is that coke bill g drinking a subtle sign we can expect a ms-coke link up in the future. lol.
wow staflos that is intese bill gates should be put to death. i love how nobody thinks that steve jobs doesn't wish everday he could do what bill gates does. ms has done so much for the industry you can't even imagine, they have taken programming and evolved it at a rate few would ever dream of with a technology like .NET. There business process and ability is get computers out to the mass market is a huge reason we enjoy paying $300 for a machine loaded with hardware (try doing this with any apple, including the mini). I actually hope that Apple and Linux grows larger where people will start to target the OS on a consistent basis lets see how quickly things get fixed. OS zealots need to chill MS has done a lot of good for the IT world as well as the world in general (which is alot more then most companies out there right now.). ibm, apple and ms are all huge corporations that are looking to make money, the os zealots need to chill.
Lots of fanboyism I see Stalfos.
It must suck to have all that money and still lose out to Sony so badly in the video game industry! It just goes to show that money can't buy everything. Can't wait to see the PS3 crush the Xbox 360!
That dude on the right needs a haircut!
I really think that some people ( stalfos ) who post here are mentally disturbed. It would be different if his? post were even funny, but I'm sure he is quite convinced and serious with it ;)
Nice interview. I suspect Microsoft will remain a tiny player in the mobile phone market for sometime, nokia and other big phone makers have a very tight grip on the industry, and will not give that up easily. And frankly they make more interesting phones to the consumers.
where is the podcast?
I was really dissapointed that the Xbox (1) wasn't more of a media hub. It took a bunch of hackers to create XBMC to show the full potential of the Xbox. It looks like the Xbox 360 is going to play the same part, as media extender. I won't want to upgrade to XP Media Center Edition and it is a shame that I won't be able to use all the media features of the Xbox 360.
Sony will really have a leg up if they make their system the "hub" instead of just an extender. They've already done it with the PSX which was somewhat of a failure, but at least they have tested the waters and know what works. I doubt that Sony will include Tivo like functionality in the PS3 as it may be too costly. I could see a nice TV tuner add-on in the future for the PS3.
Wow, I can't wait to hear what Bill Gates thinks about the DVD, the Blu Ray, and where they will go.
We'll have a podcast of the interview later this week!
And yes, I do need a haircut.
i agree him.
http://www.icebin.net/
Hmmm. If I read Bill Gates correctly, they will not release a stand-alone portable gaming platform. They will just have to improve and make Pocket PC's and Smartphones (Windows Mobile) more powerful to accomodate great games.
Which is a good startegy because they are not directly attacking the giants (Nintendo and Sony) but actually pulling off something sneaky.
I didn't bother buying a gameboy advance because my Pocket PC (HP iPAQ h2210) can run GBA games through the morphgear software.
Great interview, I saw got to see him and WarrenB over the weekend....yeah...Seeing the two richest men in the world in the same room is rather daunting.
Bollocks I think that Peter Rojas is on the cutting edge of "blogger hair"
Sure getting a trim one in a while is good but don't you dare shave your mane.
Thanks engadget. I love your interviews!
Good job!
Man what a score top job you guys! I can't wait for the podcast.
So did you sleep at his house?
'CUZ BONO DID!
Hey great interview, I look forward to the podcast of it.
Great job on the interview, can't wait for part two!!! I must say that i have to agree with Gates when it comes to the phone trumping other devices. Think about how many people just go and get new phones because of all the bells and whistles. I know that I tend to go through phones like they're candy! Unfortunatly, in this country we seem to lag behind when it comes to innovative phones. Seems to me like we're always hearing about new cell phone technology strictly available in Asain countries. As far as portable gaming, I agree with other posts, MS could definately come out with something that can be extremely competitive.
Lost my train of thought, more comments on part two of the interview!
This comment is for Mr. 22 Stalfos
See I agree with you that MS has their BIG Azz monopoly. But See you phrase LINUX and Apple OSs but the fact is those companies arent making as much money as microsoft is. And GATES is smart dude. The only company he should be scared of right now is GOOGLE cuz GOOGLE is expanding FAST. If they come up with some OS that would be something =P. But that might not even happen =P.
Overall, Good interview..
and this message is for BILL GATES, IF HE READS THIS.. Can I have your 1 hour pay. I'm jobless right now.. I need money and JOB =P
Wow, this man has earned an average of $58 every second since 1978. Let's see now ... if your interview took tewenty minutes, then that was a $70,466.20 interview! (with a few thousand $ variance for current stock price.)
You should have asked to drop the last 10 miniutes and see if Bill would have one of his cronies cut you a $35,000 check. :-D
No.
Haircut, Schmaircut. . .back in my day, son, we used grow our hair till it touched our ass and we cut it with our teeth.
That's the way it was, and we liked it.
Please note the poster "Stalfos" is not representative of the OSS and Linux community. The zealots are a vocal minority who hurt the cause rather than help it.
Good on Engadget on scoring an interview with Bill Gates. You guys worth it.
I believe there will be a Media Center PC with Xbox functionality (and probably hardware) built in. Next, make the hardware irrelevant and lose it. Voila, gaming back on the PC.
Outside of Microsoft business, I'd be interested to know what is the single greatest mission Bill sees before him as a dedicated philantropist.
Great to know that We can see a True Photo Blogging application for Windows Mobile in the future. Always wished for something like 'Hello' or Nokia PhotoBlog suite on the PPC platform.
PhotoBlogging on to MSN Spaces in realtime would be a killer application for some. Hopefully Other BlogTypes are supported too. Similarly a port of the MSN desktop Search on to PPC Phone OR an extension of the MSN DT Search to span the PPC Phone contents too would be desirable.
Stalfos you must be some disturbed fellow there... It scares me that there are so many of you out there... One Question, How did Microsoft destroyed the pc Industry? It's sad to hear that bashing when Microsoft has done so much for the PC industry. So many speak of Microsoft stealing ideas but never aim at apple. While apple revolutionized many ideas like the windows like interface they took from Xerox to create the Macintosh they are no difference between apple and Microsoft. Microsoft may have done wrong in people's view by eating little fish but hey it's the nature of the business... name me one big business that has not done that? I'm sure you would not find one. The Microsoft stealing ideas it's no different then any other company... I can be sure that Apple is one of these companies. I have friends working in different software fields in the computer industry and guess what majority of software businesses reverse engineer their competitors software. Microsoft is a business and just as how nature works, they have to eat the little one's to feed itseft. Not saying that it's nice to do that but neither is eating the burger you eat knowing it came from a cow which was slaughter... Oh as for Clint's comments on Microsoft being beaten by Sony in the Gaming Industry, i'm thinking that you are talking bout an altenate world? Cause last i recall was that Microsoft box sales per box last year were higher then SONY PS2 and being from a newcomer to the industry I think that's pretty impressive. People just have to recognize Bill is a genious and you shouldn't hate someone for that...
Peter,
Congrats! That must have been a great feeling to score an interview with Bill! Kudos!
Comment on #56:
Where did you get your stats. The PS2 is still the top selling console even boosted by the new slim form factor.
i just want to ask and comment on that person who critisized windows and wants Bill Gates to put to death..
Have you been in the school? it seems that your attitude is as small as your brain..
.... wow Bill is really good at avoid his questions he like randomly goes into another direction.. and makes it long so that u forget wut the question is ... *sigh* i guess its cuz he wants to keep it a secret .... wow Bill playing a PSP ... i doubt it he probably had like 50 staff playing with it find bugs rip it apart and will probably come out with something simular soon..
i want to learn about his smartphone ;)
Hey, ask Bill when Steveb is calling me about my IE 7 interview, and when I will I get my beta copy...
I think it was a very good idea for them not to make the X-Box an all in one media hub. It cuts down on price and it won't turn off the console only gamers who hate PC games. Console Gamers are like a lynch mob.
This article was Superb!!
Can include more pictures on the X-Box if available.
Say more on His smartphone.
Truly impressed you landed this fish. I'm going to have suck it up and get a xenon.
Ron:: You have to be kidding me, we all know that Microsoft is in it for Money or else it wouldn't be called a business. I don't understand why so many people are complaining that Microsoft it always about the money. I think that it's an essential part of the business to be in it for money. But I also know that Microsoft understand of offering services that consumers will go for. As far as people not buying phone, you are dead wrong. You have seen people gettting free phones and yet many times you see them get the high end phones which are not given for free and either way if they did they still make money with the services they provide in the gadget. And now that consumer wouldn't want a phone with multi-function capabilities is a bull of crap outa your mouth. I don't think that i would want to carry 5 different type of equipment to a trip when I only need one that has it all bundle in. It's a logical reasoning of consumer to want that. Like he mentioned that people want all that bundle in. Consumer might not be buying nifty phones now cause they are only entry phones coming in with bundle features. Many have failed and few have been successful... Enought proof is with the Treo series of successful bundle phone. Consumer want their phone to be able to give them the info they need without having to whip out another gadget. It's the convinient that sells the phones and i'm sure anyone wants that... unless you live in the stone age.One other thing... People are complaining about how he presented the information but hey it's a short interview and why would he want to be clear specific and detailed on Development projects? I don't think that's good for business!
Hey niC, I bet you enjoy your philosophy every time you 300 FREAKIN DOLLARS for a stinkin Windows cd-rom
one more thing niC, name me one all in one device that actually does better than a half assed job on all the features.
I came in a bit late, but I worked in IBM Research last summer and the only thing that ran on Unix was perhaps their very very old VMS system for employee timesheeting and stuff. I'm not even sure if that's Unix or not.
PS3 WILL NOT CRUSH XBOX 360 IT WILL BE GOOD COMPETITION
Bill shows that he is successful in the technology world--and hence the whole world--because he makes his decisions based on where things are heading rather than where they are at the moment. Every answer he gives he seems to be saying, "Sure, for right now this seems conservative, but watch what happens when the further integration comes along!" Of course, betting on the future becomes far less risky when your company is one of its largest influences.
Bill shows that he is successful in the technology world--and hence the whole world--because he makes his decisions based on where things are heading rather than where they are at the moment. Every answer he gives he seems to be saying, "Sure, for right now this seems conservative, but watch what happens when the further integration comes along!" Of course, betting on the future becomes far less risky when your company is one of its largest influences.
I beliee that the new stuff that we have coming out today in this world is going to go down the drain beacuse it shows that it could be anthor great drepresson.
me pregunto Bill eres asi como te muestras en la television y en los medios de comunicacion,una persona sencilla y noble a y otra curiosidad cuanto tiempo trabajaste para conseguir lo que ahora tienes y desde que edad? bueno lo que sucede es que tengo amigos ingenieros que quisiera comentar sobre ti.
Gates drinks Diet Coke!!!!
bill gates is asshole
From this much we can see theres no plans for a portable Xbox
Interesting. However dull and painful that was read, it was also informative in the same sense that hearing Alan Greenspan testify before congress is--predictable, but at the same time fascinating to try to decode to see what that behemoth of a corrupt corporation has up its sleeve. That being said, in response to previous comments, I think you'd be pretty foolish to say that "microsoft has done a lot for the PC." Obviously it is a business, and like any other is ruthlessly competative, but Microsoft takes a lot from the development of technology, and is also quite litigious monopolistic in company strategy. On a whole, it is a vile company, and anyone who thinks .NET is revolutionary or likes their new shitty media player, or IE, is off their rocker.
I use windows because certain third party companies only code for windows, and I need to use these applications. If I could use everything I wanted on a unix-flavor OS I'd do it for a second, but for now I'll stick to running a dual boot fbsd/xp box.
Microsoft, how about giving somemore of that mad profit to Oxfam? Lining their pockets, and that of their investors, that's their job. everyone else can ****off. It's sad and pathetic.
can i see you ha ha ha ha
"Im not sure what you mean by the word hub there."
I knew what you meant. Does that mean I'm smarter than Bill Gates?