Back in 1992, Microsoft was still a new company, and Tom Brokaw sat down with 35 year old Bill Gates, who discussed the future, including the advent of “electronic mail.” Follow up interview here.
1992: The future of computers per Bill Gates
Back in 1992, Microsoft was still a new company, and Tom Brokaw sat down with 35 year old Bill Gates, who discussed the future, including the advent of “electronic mail.” Follow up interview here.
When I clicked the link, it said a transcript of the interview is not available, so I’ll comment without having the benefit of the article.
Gates was never an especially good forecaster. Micro$oft didn’t make its money by being innovative, it made its money by being a ‘fast follower’ — basically stealing successful ideas from other companies (Apple) and then using its dominant market position (and proprietary operating system) to hijack profits. Even today Gates is still not a forward thinker. On an interview on Charley Rose this week, Gates showed himself to be a perfect example of someone who owns a hammer and, therefore, believes the world is nothing but a box of nails. He spoke at length about how the world will need software and how Micro$oft is a great software company, but it’s already playing catch-up to companies like Apple and Samsung (and Google, and Amazon, and….), and those companies are not looking back. Even open-source products are gaining market share on Micro$oft, not just in operating systems (Linux) but office apps as well (OpenOffice).