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16 Mar 2006
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates believes that the future of computing lies in the mobility of new systems, with the mobile phone becoming a "digital wallet".
"Historically, a phone was something you used to make phone calls," said Gates in his keynote speech at the Government Leaders Forum in Washington D.C.
"Today, the idea that your mail and calendar are there, that it just connects up to Exchange, it's secure, it's synchronised, is commonsense for all the new phone platforms.
"In the future, you'll be able to speak to your phone and have that recognition. You'll be able to use the camera on the phone not just for pictures, but to translate a sign into your language, or photograph an expense receipt and have the numbers recognised and filed away on an automatic basis.
"So it becomes a very intelligent device. The ability to be the digital wallet will be commonplace for that device in your pocket."
However, Gates, who was this week confirmed as the richest man in the world with a personal fortune of $50bn, also poured scorn on MIT's One Laptop Per Child initiative that is backed by Google.
"The last thing you want for a shared-use computer is for it to be something without a disk, and with a tiny little screen," he said.
"If you are going to have people sharing the computer, get a broadband connection and have somebody there who can support the user."
Gates also took a pop at the wind-up system used to provide some of the MIT laptop's power. "Geez, get a decent computer where you can actually read the text and you're not sitting there cranking the thing while you're trying to type," he said.
During the speech, Gates showed off an ultra-mobile computer from Samsung that retails for $600 to $1,000.
"We've had portable computers for a long time, and they're getting smaller and faster. This improvement by the hardware vendors has made them thinner, less expensive and lighter. Just last week a number of our partners brought out what we call Ultra-Mobile PCs," he said.
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Gates isn't the angelic philanthropist you might think. He gave his first penny to charity the day after his self-damning, clueless videotape testimony in the antitrust trial was released to widespread criticism - he'd long been worth $50bn+ at that point. It's the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that gives the money, and you can probably guess who's the chief instigator of that charity. His commentary on the OLPC version 1 product is facile and uninsightful; after all this time and obscene profit he's *still* trying to make more money off of charity projects like these. Donating copies of Windows and Office is no donation at all, frankly.
Posted by: Unimpressed 06 Dec 2006
only american billions
oh i see 50, 000 million - not real billion then !
Posted by: john smith 05 Dec 2006
So hard to be in touch...
when you are worth $5000 million.
Posted by: Dan Randolph 28 Jul 2006
kids with diseases
what good is a wireless commuication device to a kid with a disease? Hmm Idunno maybe to communicate his problem to people to get help if he doesn't have a phone or power. I love how gates talks about these things does he actually think the people are going to use them to check stocks and do power point presentations? oh and Mr. Gates, those ultra portables don't have disc either.
Posted by: zues 27 Jul 2006
excellent argument
"Gates' just angry cuz of lost licenses due to OLPC project not running Windoze but Fedora core or sth Linuxish like that. The OLPC project is IMO more promising than Gates' donations." Your excellent grammar adds weight to your argument.
Posted by: sam 30 May 2006
my thoughts on the matter
Gates' just angry cuz of lost licenses due to OLPC project not running Windoze but Fedora core or sth Linuxish like that. The OLPC project is IMO more promising than Gates' donations.
Posted by: Jure 25 May 2006
Reality Check?
Are you kidding me? Bill Gates has donated hundreds of millions to fighting disease in the third world. Perhaps you missed that issue of Time where he was named man of the year for it. He has traveled extensively in these areas and knows exactly what conditions are like. However, he has quite wisely chosen to pour his millions into providing medicine to fight common and treatable illnesses, rather then distributing laptops. What good is a laptop to an eight year old child dying of malaria?
Posted by: Roger 17 Mar 2006
Gates needs a reality check
Mr. Gates should go to the towns where these laptops are headed to see what conditions are really like. Hand cranked power is essential in places with limited or no electricity. Maybe he could donate a few millions so these people could get telephone service too. What possible value is Wi-Fi for people without a reliable electronic connection to each other or the outside world?
Posted by: David 16 Mar 2006
I wonder if the origami is small enough to fit up his backside?
I wonder if the origami is small enough to fit up his backside?
Posted by: Jim 16 Mar 2006
Not shared
The whole idea is that the $100 laptops WON'T be shared. Their name is "One laptop per child", not "shared laptops for kids".
Posted by: Mike Cohen 16 Mar 2006