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My Advice to Bill Gates: Free Of Charge
March 29, 2005
The Wall Street Journal gets an exclusive invite to hang with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates during his one of his twice-yearly "Think Week" solo getaways, where he pores over papers on future technology trends, to help guide the company's future initiatives. The WSJ writer takes pains to note he was not allowed to reveal the location at which he visited Gates, but gives it away, at least to any in-the-know Puget Sounder, by describing a waterfront location, and a view of the Olympic Mountains. It's obviously the Gates family compound near the south bend of the Hood Canal, around the blink-and-miss-it burg of Union. Not far from where his grandfather set up shop, literally, in Bremerton (this profile of Gates' dad, Bill Sr., mentions the Bremerton roots, aways down). Hope you got down to the Hunter Farms produce stand and grocery, Bill III, for some of those great locally-made caramels they stock at the cash register. During "Think Week," Gates drinks caseloads of Diet Orange Crush, has two meals delivered daily, and reads and reads and reads, making notes and firing off e-mails to lieutenants worldwide. A few examples follow, with my own "lay consumer" reaction. Though I think Gates is actually a pretty cool guy, I'm going to focus on stuff that rankles me a bit. First, full disclosure: I'm am enthusiastic user of blogging software (Moveable Type, and now also Blogger); I depend on the Internet for research and e-mail; and enjoy it for commerce. I am self-employed so I don't worry too much about computer networks, though - with help - I recently set up a small home/office wireless network. I have come to appreciate private, collaborative online work spaces with live chat capabilities, thanks to a newly-formed business partnership. I have a PC running Windows and, a new purchase, an iMac G5. I'm not into downloading music off the Internet or video, and will never own an iPod portable music player, my favorite tunes insulating me as I navigate social spaces. But I am burning CD compilations using Apple's iTunes, and look forward to utilizing Apple's "Garage Band" home recording studio software, which was also loaded onto my new iMac. Educational computer games are fine (my kids use them), but online gaming strikes me a mediated experience too far, while many of the video games directed at teens and adults are either trivial or off-putting. So now that you know my biases, here are my shoot-from-the-hip reactions to some of what Gates was reviewing during his recent "Think Week." "..future mapping services that deliver travel directions with live images of destinations and details on traffic conditions and other information." Yes, other information, like a Net-enabled cell-phone gauging your location and answering your query for the nearest restaurant serving South Indian Masala Dosa or Brazilian Feijoada. I object. The "gimme data now" mindset, extended from business to leisure settings, has harmful societal implications. Be deliberative and caring enough to carve the time for a little research in advance. Why must everything be "on the fly?" Because we're so busy working overtime, thanks to all the new "time-saving" devices we're using? Because leisure is increasingly just a function of business? Mmm hmm? Pause, breathe deeply. Ponder. As to Web-enabled or on-board mapping services....Feh. Do you want a print-out from MapQuest for your destination, or an on-board navigational device that may be stuck on Oklahoma, or talk only German? (These things happen oftener than tech press types admit). Are you moving from one pod to another? Or are you travelling through a zone of potential future exploration? In which case the analog option, an actual street map of the city and region, might come in handy. What about live traffic information via the Internet or your cell-phone? Good Gawd, Yes. Indisputably useful and valid, just like flight arrival and delay information delivered in the same formats. But live pictures of your destination? Oh, c'mon. Get there, see it for real, not on your screen. Three-quarters of mediated experiences are superfluous. "Gates soon hit his stride, reading the 80-page 'Education Project Strategy at Microsoft' on how to hone the company's appeal to the education market." Worthwhile from a business standpoint in that educators have been hornswoggled into believing that software is important in K-12 education, so why not sell them more stuff they think they need? Sure it's nice if schools have computers, and it's good for kids to be able to use word-processing software and Internet browsers. But the whole technology in education meme is massively overhyped. Gates himself has stressed how poorly public high schools in the U.S. are preparing students for college, and Gates has sponsored Manhattan Institute research highlighting the problem. Kids who can't write, read or compute well need to focus on basics: reading out loud, developing reading comprehension skills, writing and spelling without artificial aids, calculating without calculators. The "spell-check" function in MS-Word - which of course also corrects poor syntax - is partly responsible for a generation of "educated" young adults who can't write their way out of a paper bag. Gates reviewed papers outlining "Microsoft's long-term strategy to use video-game consoles, online games, and the PC to expand its consumer business." Consumers: Don't let Microsoft's tail wag your dog. Your time is precious, and your priorities should be your own. Think hard how much discretionary time you really want yourself, your children, your spouse, and yes, even your friends, to spend on video games, online gaming, and connected to other digital devices; versus talking, reading, cooking, walking, hiking, gardening or playing a musical instrument. Such decisions help define you as an individual and shape the society in which we co-habitate. Gates also read about "the growth of Internet video, hard-drive capacity and the diminishing advances in microprocessor 'clock speed,' historically the driver of PC market growth." And now, Microsoft hopes, the driver of PC market growth will be a nation of bamboozled rubes convinced they can't live without being wired to digital "content" 24-7. Bah! What's next, digital phone downloads on "Slow Food" and "Voluntary Simplicity?" Silly me. You can probably do that already. 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Union, WA, as you say, at the elbow of Hood Canal is what I have been hearing. But is he on a lake, not the salt water? I am trying Garage Band. But I don't want to write songs, I just want flexibility in practicing - cadence, key, add and remove parts. Someone must me posting tracks for this, but I haven't found them. And "Kids who can't write, read or compute well need to focus on basics: reading out loud, developing reading comprehension skills, writing and spelling without artificial aids, calculating without calculators." Right! Posted by: Ron Hebron at March 29, 2005 10:43 PMMS' problem stems from trying to replicate the margins and business model of the Windows, Server & Office segment of the company. Never mind the illegal factors as cause & effect - the main problem is MS thinks 2005 is 1995. They are solely focused on trying to create products that deliver a monthly revenue stream. Xbox is the easy example because it has two monthly streams - online & disc sales - and reasonably successful though they have thrown $4 billion dollars at it ... but then it all really goes wonky. Quick show of hands - how many people in America wants a bulky cheap $3 watch that costs $150 that tells them the freakin' weather when you can look up and get that info for free? Or offers 1997 pager like features of sports scores and nasdaq quotes? Why was MS involved in this? They just saw the $5 a month fee - never mind that almost NO ONE on this planet cares. SAme with MSN, cell phones, car OSes, cable set-top boxes and DRM of music & movies. They just want their 1-5% cut of EVERY transaction. The problem is when all you think about is the toll ... you end up with a company as innovation as the DMV. Posted by: jbelkin at March 30, 2005 12:21 AMPost a comment
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