An Interview with Bill Gates

It’shardtothinkofabusinessthat’shadamorepositiveeffectforcustomersthanthePCbusiness.Therateofproductimprovement,thekindofempowermentitprovides,thisabilitytocreateandstayintouch.Youknowtheclosest5)comparisoniswhenpublishingcamealongandpeoplehadbooks.Ofcoursebookscreatedaproblem.Youknow,thepeoplewantedtocontrolthingsdidn’tlikebooks,thepeoplewhowantedtosellhigh-pricedhandwrittenthingsdidn’tliketheprintingpress.But6)overwhelminglyitwassomethingthatpeopleknewreallythatitwasverypositive.Thesamething’shappenedwiththePC.There’snocompanythat7)intermsofourworkhasgottenaspositivefeedbackandyouknowhasgottenasbroadasetofusers.Thoseusersarealwaystellinguswhatthey’dliketoseeusmakebetter,andthat’spartlywhyit’safunbusinessbecausewegettomakenewversionsofthesoftwareallthetime.
Well,thevisionofMicrosoftisaboutinformationasyouwantit,anytime,anywhere,anyplace.Andthisisan8)overallstrategyaboutmakingiteasiertowritesoftware,easiertoshare9)data,revolutionizinguserinterfacewiththespeechandhandwriting.Andmakingreadingoffthecomputerasgoodorbetterthanpaperandsotodaywe’reas10)radicalaseverinseeingthatthehorizonsforsoftwareare,willletusgetsomuchmorethanevenwhatwehavenow.
The11)digitalfutureincludeslotsofspecialized12)devices.Ifallyouwanttodoismakeavoicecall,you’llhaveadeviceforthat,ifallyouwanttodoistakeaphoto,you’llhaveadeviceforthat.ThePCofcoursewillbethedevicewheneveryouwanttoseeafull-sizescreentodoanythingwithdocumentsorwebbrowsingorplanning,you’llusethat.Nowsometimesthesedeviceswillbecombinedtogetherandwehaveenoughpartnerswhomakethesedevicesthateverypossiblecombinationwillbetried.Youknowputtingthephoneandthecameratogether,bringingthe13)wristwatchandacameratogether,andit’llbecompletelyuptothemarkettodecideexactlyhowthey’dliketoseethesethingspackaged.Butnodoubt,thephotoswillgodigital,movieswillgodigital,musicwillgodigital,andsotheabilityoftheusertoshareandenrichenthesethingswillbe14)dramaticallybetterthanit’sbeenwithoutdigital.