Bill Gates
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Steve Jobs/Bill Gates D5 interview available in iTunes
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates sat down with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the All Things Digital conference for a joint interview the other day. The footage of the interview was posted at the D5 website, but it was broken up into chunks. Now you can watch, or listen, to the interview in its entirety thanks to the iTunes Store. That's right, the interview is now available as a video or audio podcast. The audio only version checks in at 85 megs or so, while the video file is almost 1 gig in size.I'm downloading the video as I type this, and I suggest you do the same. It isn't often that one gets to watch two people who have shaped technology in such a meaningful way sit down and share their thoughts about the past, present, and future (though Steve never comments on future products).Thanks, Karim.Update: I neglected to mention that Steve and Bill were interviewed in a tag team fashion by Walt and Kara Swisher.
Bill Gates on the future of computer interaction
In a very rare joint interview with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on stage at last week's D 2007, Microsoft founder Bill Gates told hosts Walter Mossberg and Kara Swisher, both of the Wallstreet Journal, of his vision for the future of interaction with technology, and therefore gaming, and inadvertently used the Nintendo Wii as a stepping stone."Imagine a game machine where you can just pick up a bat and swing it or the tennis racket," said Gates, to which Mossberg noted that one exists, referencing Wii Sports."No, no, that's not it," said Gates, "you can't pick up your tennis racket and swing it, ['Oh, I see what you mean,' said Mossberg] you can't sit there with your friends and do those natural things. That's a 3D positional device, this is video recognition, this is a camera seeing what's going on ... the camera will be ubiquitous."
Poll: Jobs and Gates sit down in an alternate reality
Wednesday night's Jobs and Gates intimate sit-down wasn't just civil, it was downright reverent -- at times even tearful. But we all imagined alternate realities and an overflow of events that might have transpired in another universe... now vote.P.S. -Feel free to leave your own in comments. %Poll-1171%
Video highlights of the Steve and Bill show
In case you missed the Engadget liveblog of last night's lovefest between Big Mac and El PC, the folks at the D conference have posted complete video coverage and a highlight reel (above) of Steve and Bill's excellent adventure. Enjoy the show, and please open any hard candies in advance of the feature.
Wrapup of D day, plus bonus top nicknames for the Palm Foleo
It was a long day at WSJ's D down in San Diego, but there was plenty to see. Check out our coverage roundup below.Live coverageSteve Jobs and Bill Gates: Historic discussion live from D 2007Steve Jobs live from D 2007Steve Ballmer live from D 2007Palm's Jeff Hawkins live from D 2007AppleiPhone to get third party apps Apple TV gets 160GB disk... and YouTube tooiTunes Plus and EMI's DRM-free music hands-oniTunes Plus DRM-free music now official(er)MicrosoftMicrosoft Surface - surface and gesture based computing landsMicrosoft Surface hands-onPalmPalm Foleo hands-on Palm Foleo galleryPalm Foleo announced Etc. Livescribe shows off Leapfrog Fly-esque pen computer for grown-ups QiGO announces Internet Content KeysAlso, you reminded us that you're a hell of a clever lot that not seemed to think we were justified in totally panning Palm's new Foleo. So here are some of the top nicknames we've heard it given: Foolio (totally our favorite, by Jeff) Folly-o (by derF) The Palm Shark Jumper (by Brian) Feel free to leave some more in comments!
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates chat at All Things Digital 2007
This is the last All Things Digital post for today, promise (well, as long as nothing cool happens). Engadget is live on the scene where Steve Jobs (Apple's CEO) and Bill Gates (he works for some small tech company in Redmond) will share the stage with Walt Mossberg. What will they talk about? I have no idea, but you can read it as they say it over at Engadget.
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates: Historic discussion live from D 2007
We kind of never thought we'd see the day where Mac and PC voluntarily shared the stage on neutral ground, but that day is today. Very soon Bill Gates and Steve Jobs -- both pioneering execs that need absolutely no introduction -- will sit up in front of the audience here at D and discuss god knows what. Don't miss this, people, who knows if this will happen again in any of our lifetimes. You'll know when we get started. Who's got odds that they don't walk out and say "Hi, I'm a PC." "Hi, I'm a Mac."?We're in! They're playing the Beatles, just like they did when Jobs came out the first time.Update: Video recap online! Right after the break, but before the rest of our coverage.
Jobs, Gates, and Hawkins: times (in approximate) for tomorrow's festivities
Ok, we've landed and have some rough times you should be ready for things to go off tomorrow. Remember, we've got a Steve Jobs presentation, Jeff Hawkins is showing off whatever Palm's got next, and the icing on the cake is Jobs (again) for a hot legend-on-legend sitdown with Bill Gates. Here are the windows to watch out for, we'll try and blog as much as our battery can hold out for:Wednesday, May 308:00AM - 10:30AM PST windowSteve Ballmer / MicrosoftJeff Hawkins / Palm11:15AM - 1:00PM PST windowSteve Jobs / Apple7:15PM PSTBill Gates & Steve Jobs 2getha 4evaThursday, May 3111:00AM - 12:45PM PST windowEric Schmidt / Google
Open source protestor crashes Bill Gates' speech in China
We've certainly seen a variety of crashings go down on stage, but a determined protester and undeterred advocate for open source software rudely (albeit humorously) interrupted Bill Gates' speech at Peking University in Beijing, China. Gates, who was speaking on the topic of Innovation in China's future and receiving (yet another) honorary manager title, had his after-party all shook up by an off-kilter open source proponent who reportedly darted across the stage, "loudly shouted against Microsoft's monopoly," proudly displayed a sign of "Free software, open source," and was promptly "tackled by security and removed for questioning." It was suggested that the culprit may have been a member of the Linux Professional Institute, and while we're not exactly sure if Michael Dell would've shown any forgiveness, feel free click on through for a closeup of the sign and the unfortunate aftermath.[Via SeattlePI, thanks Ralf]Update: Reader Shawn W sent in a video of the proceedings! Check it out after the break.
Gates to become richest man in space?
With relative paupers taking jaunts into space at a pretty regular clip these days, it certainly would be no financial burden for the world's richest nerd to indulge his astronautical fantasies, and now a Russian cosmonaut aboard the International Space Station claims that Microsoft founder and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Bill Gates may be planning to do just that. In an interview broadcast from the ISS, Fyodor Yurchikhin repeated the assertions of current space tourist and former Gates co-worker Charles Simonyi that Mr. Microsoft himself "is also preparing to visit space," although Space Adventures -- which organizes these indulgent expeditions -- says that it has had no contact with Sir Bill so far. So in the absence of any official word from the Gates camp, we can only look to the man's personality for hints as to whether or not this fantastic voyage will take place -- and seeing how there's already been an iPod in orbit, we're pretty sure that Bill won't sleep soundly until all the world's gadget blogs and magazine covers are plastered with glossy pictures of a space Zune. [Via Slashdot]
Netflix CEO joins Microsoft board
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, the man who changed the way America rents movies, has joined the board of directors at Microsoft. There's no further announcement beyond this simple, but possibly monumental, change to the Microsoft board.Microsoft has been getting into video downloads with Xbox Live, but now combine that concept with the brand power and ethos of simplicity behind Netflix, and you've got yourself, well, we don't know ... but it brings us one step closer to an all-in-one box for our television.If Netflix service were incorporated into the Xbox 360, it would change the way we rent movies once again, and be a Halo-level killer app. for the console. As long as the Xbox 360 continues growing its potential, but doesn't lose sight of its gaming core, we'll be fine. We cross our fingers for a Netflix related announcement before 2008. Consumers rejoice, this could lead to good things.
Bill Gates the dropout to receive honorary Harvard degree, will finally be able to do something with his life
Bill Gates, a true inspiration to college dropouts the world over, is about to crown his academic career with the ultimate irony by receiving an honorary degree from Harvard, the very school he ditched his Junior year to get Microsoft going. Harvard is handing him the degree to thank him for doing this year's upcoming commencement speaker gig at the school, as they do for all commencement speakers, and won't announce what the degree is for until then. (Hint: probably not Phys Ed). We haven't the foggiest what Bill Gates will have to say to the youngsters, other than to make fun of them for working hard these past four years while he's been busy earning billions of dollars, getting knighted and even being interviewed on the hallowed pages of Engadget.[Thanks, Motoi]
Bill Gates can't play soccer games (or he's a good faker)
During a promotional event celebrating Microsoft's twentieth anniversary in Mexico, Bill Gates lost to professional Mexican soccer player Rafael Marquez 2-1 in a virtual game of soccer on the 360 (FIFA?). The game was played in front of a crowd of Microsoft employees on three jumbo trons. We bet it was thrilling. And in proper fashion, the two exchanged signed product after the match; Gates giving Marquez a 360 with wired controllers, and Marquez giving Gates a Barcelona camiseta. Yet another example of rich/famous people getting more free stuff.
AdAge asks Gates about Hodgman to ill effect
Don't people know any better by now than to taunt Billy G. with Apple's indubitably (and unintentionally) lovable John Hodgman PC character? Check out this exchange from a recent interview of Gatesy by Advertising Age's Bob Garfield:AdAge: I want to ask you one more thing: Those Mac ads -- how do you feel about the John Hodgman character? Gates: I can't comment on someone else's ad. AdAge: OK ... but he's you. Gates: Yeah, I'm not gonna comment on someone else's ad. AdAge: OK, well, Bill Gates, thank you so much for joining us. (Silence) AdAge: Can I just have a clean goodbye? (Silence) AdAge: OK, can you just say goodbye? Thank you or goodbye or something like that? Gates: Goodbye. [Oh, and it was curt alright.]Damn son. We might recommend just pretending you're Justin Long (aka Mac) next time, and see what happens.[Via digg]
The quest for Autumn: Windows XP's elusive backdrop
It's no secret that people have been fascinated, or at least intrigued, by wallpapers and screensavers since the desktop first graced their eyes, and judging by the sheer multitude of websites and man-hours devoted to perfecting the screen that you so rarely see once you launch that first app, it's also no shock to hear a tale of such obsession. Although Autumn may not be most people's default background in Windows XP, it's still well regarded, and for one Vanity Fair writer, it sparked a worldwide quest to find its origin. Expecting the task to be one of relative ease in the age of email, meta tags, and digital archives, he began by questioning the usual suspects about its humble beginnings, but to his dismay, was turned down time and time again by rights protectors who wouldn't divulge the author nor location of such a highly prized stock photograph. Eventually, his entire team was onboard in a furious (albeit seemingly futile) search to discover precisely where this image was shot, once leading to thoughts of permanent relocation if the locale was finally unearthed. After what seemed like months of running into brick walls, an email to Bill Gates himself resulted in an apparently automated response that belted out nothing more but the snapshot's place of origin, which incited fits of jovial celebration office-wide. To Campbellville, Ontario, Canada they headed, in desperate need to visit the orangey area so burned into their memories, and thanks to the purportedly mysterious workings of a co-worker, they even landed the shooter's name. Eventually, the journey led them to a rarely traveled path in the city of Burlington, where the old Harris Homestead quietly sat behind a vigilant row of bare trees surrounded by glistening white snow. It truly was Winter, at last for the adventurous crew, but it certainly gives us pause when deciding whether or not to seek out the origin of Ascent and Azul in our spare time.
Bill Gates clamps down on daughter's internet time
Sure, we've seen individuals getting their hand slapped (or worse) for browsing the internet a bit too often, but you'd assume that having a dad who envisioned the Redmond powerhouse and pays the bills by way of computing would be the perfect father figure for the computer-addicted. Apparently, that's not exactly so, as a recent Reuters report tells of Bill Gates himself clamping down on his 10-year old daughter's internet and gaming time. According to Bill, his oldest gal wasn't even into the 'net until this school year, where tablet PCs became a necessary tool, but now that she's found access to a never-ending supply of information, her habits have suddenly changed. She latched onto Viva Piñata, purportedly playing for "two to three hours per day," after which her health started deteriorating and her chore accomplishments plummeted. Although we mention those last bits in jest, Mr. Gates slapped down a "45-minutes per day" law for non-school related computing tasks on the weekdays, and added just 15 minutes for weekends, probably garnering quite the evil eye and stirring up early thoughts of rebellion in his youngster. Seriously Bill, if you're that worried about daddy's little girl stumbling upon some form of cyber predator, there's always the parent-approved IM-Me, but throwing time restrictions on your own products is just a tad illogical, no?[Via BloggingStocks, thanks Randall]
Russia drops piracy case against teacher
Remember that Russian schoolteacher from a few days back, the one charged with piracy, and the one for whom Bill Gates and Microsoft declined to intervene? Well it turns out that Alexander Ponosov didn't need any help from Gates -- or Mikael Gorbachev, for that matter -- as the Perm-based court tasked with trying the case has dismissed all charges and labeled the incident as "trivial." As you probably recall, Ponosov is the teacher / principal of a small, 380-student school in the Urals village of Sepych which purchased 12 computers that Ponosov claimed had already been pre-loaded with pirated copies of Microsoft software. Amusingly, in its public rebuff of Gorbachev's request, Redmond argued that it was "sure that the Russian courts will make a fair decision" because of the "government's position on the importance of protecting intellectual property rights" -- and although most observers would probably agree that this is the fairest outcome, we doubt it's the one that Microsoft had in mind. When informed of the court's decision, Ponosov stated that "of course, it was trivial," and went on to inform the press that "we're off to drink champagne now" -- and with all that money he saved on software, there's definitely gonna be some Cristal in the house tonight.
Found Footage: Gates vs. Jobs
This PG-13 cartoon (there is just a tad of saucy language, you have been warned) depicts an epic battle between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in iWorld. Definitely worth a watch, if only for the Finder's song.[via Buzz Patrol]
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XXIII - Gates: "security guys break the Mac every single day"
Wow, um, Bill, old buddy, old pal. We're sorry to skewer you on this one and all but seriously, what the hell were you thinking telling Newsweek that "Nowadays, security guys break the Mac every single day. Every single day, they come out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally. I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine."? We understand the few questions preceding interviewer Steven Levy's query about Vista's security compared to OS X's may have gotten you a bit riled up, but let's be honest for a second. We follow this stuff fairly closely and we haven't seen or heard about any globe-trotting worms or prominent security threats to Apple's operating system in quite some time; one of the highest risk threats we've heard about in recent memory turned out to be a hoax (although, as many readers have pointed out, there's always the MOAB). We're glad Vista is enhancing Windows security (and usability), we really are, but we really think you and Jobs (and Hodgman) should go have a few drinks and just enjoy your filthy richness or something.Love, Engadget
Bill Gates on Mac ads: "I don't even get it"
So, we didn't get our wish of a Gates vs. Hodgman showdown on the Daily Show this week -- too bad -- but that doesn't mean Bill has been totally mum on the topic. "I don't think the over 90 percent of the [population] who use Windows PCs think of themselves as dullards, or the kind of klutzes that somebody is trying to say they are," said Gates. "And I don't know why [Apple is] acting like it's superior. I don't even get it. What are they trying to say?" He continued, "Does honesty matter in these things, or if you're really cool, that means you get to be a lying person whenever you feel like it? There's not even the slightest shred of truth to it." Perhaps it's good there wasn't any Gates / Hodgman interaction after all, things could've gotten a bit testy. Gates was also asked straight up if Microsoft would have a new OS in 2010-2011, to which he responded, "Absolutely." Which seems to put to rest some of those will-they-won't-they rumorings. He also had plenty more to say about the future of Windows, calling it "more user-centric" in a portability of data sort of sense (read: Windows Live). Bill also promised even more handwriting recognition and speech improvements, claiming "Students won't need textbooks, they can just use these tablet devices." Gee, we've never heard that line before.
