Gates doesn't want his body to be hooked up to a computer.
If I was responsible for Windows...
-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
Date: Sunday, Jul 3, 2005 5:17 pm
Subject: [IP] Gates Says Technology Will One Day Allow Computer Implants -- But Hardwiring's Not For Him
Begin forwarded message:
From: "John F. McMullen" <observer@westnet.com>
Date: July 3, 2005 5:05:48 PM EDT
To: johnmac's living room <johnmacsgroup@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>
Subject: [johnmacsgroup] Gates Says Technology Will One Day Allow Computer Implants -- But Hardwiring's Not For Him
Reply-To: johnmacsgroup@yahoogroups.com
From Techology Review --
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/07/ap/ap_070105.asp
Gates Says Technology Will One Day Allow Computer Implants --
But Hardwiring's Not For Him
By Rohan Sullivan
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Technological advances will one day allow
computers to be implanted in the human body -- and could help
the blind see and the deaf hear -- Bill Gates said Friday. But
the Microsoft chairman says he's not ready to be hardwired.
"One of the guys that works at Microsoft ... always says to me
'I'm ready, plug me in,"' Gates said at a Microsoft seminar in
Singapore. "I don't feel quite the same way. I'm happy to have
the computer over there and I'm over here."
Meshing people directly with computers has been a science
fiction subject for years, from downloading memories onto
computer chips to replacement robotic limbs controlled by
brain waves.
The fantasy is coming closer to reality as advances in
technology mean computers are learning to interact with human
characteristics such as voices, touch -- even smell.
Gates, whose Redmond, Washington-based company is spending
more than US$6 billion (euro4.95 billion) on research and
development this year to stay a world leader in software
development, was asked at the seminar whether he thought
computers would ever be implanted in the human brain.
He noted that cochlear implants and other medical implants
were already being used to treat hearing problems and some
conditions that cause constant pain, and were changing some
people's lives dramatically.
Cochlear implants, which employ digital pulses that the brain
interprets as sound, can help profoundly deaf people hear.
Advances were also being made on implants that can help fix
eyesight problems, Gates said.
These types of technologies would continue to be improved and
expanded, especially in areas where they would be "correcting
deficiencies," he said.
"We will have those capabilities," Gates said.
He cited author Ray Kurzweil, whom he called the best at
predicting the future of artificial intelligence, as believing
that such computer-human links would become mainstream --
though probably not for several generations.
Gates also predicted that the keyboard won't be replaced by
voice recognition software, and that the pen will make a
comeback -- although without ink. The three would form the
basic ways people will interact with their computers in the
future, he said.
He said when computer pen technology -- scratching words onto
a screen that a computer tries to read -- gets more
sophisticated it will do things like let people draw musical
notes and chemical signs, as well as recognize handwriting.
"Some people today underestimate the pen, because that
recognition software is at an early stage," Gates said. "But
it's on a very fast learning curve."
Speech would probably become the main way to input information
in mobile devices, though Gates noted the huge popularity of
mobile phone short messages services -- used almost
fanatically across Asia.
"In some cases -- mobile phones -- speech will be the primary
input (because) either the pen or the keyboard is a bit tough
-- although a lot of young people are awfully good with that little keyboard," Gates said.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Related:
Notebook:
There was no major announcement in Chairman Gates' speech at
this MS confab in Singapore. Still, it was a decent rundown of
what one guy is thinking about the future of microprocessor
technology -- a guy who controls around $6 billion in computer
R&D funds annually. -- By Paul Angiolillo
What Others Are Saying:
As Forbes noted (below), at the same MS conference, Gates
cited Internet security as his company's key challenge.
And, as News.com reported (also below), in an interview, the
Chairman also hinted that he may license Xbox gaming device
manufacturing to third parties.
-------------------------
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2005/07/01/afx2120303.html
AFX News Limited
Bill Gates says internet security is Microsoft's biggest
challenge
07.01.2005, 07:08 AM
SINGAPORE (AFX) - Internet security is Microsoft's greatest
challenge while developing mainstream technology to be able to
talk to a computer is a frontier about to be crossed, company
chairman Bill Gates said.
Delivering a wide-ranging lecture on technology to thousands
of delegates at a Microsoft forum here, Gates said giving
instructions to a personal computer by voice will become
mainstream in 'three to four years'.
Gates said Microsoft is investing 'tens of millions of
dollars' annually on this technology, although he expects the
computer keyboard will remain an important device.
Asked what is the biggest technology challenge for Microsoft
apart from piracy, Gates identified security on the Internet,
which he explained included privacy issues and controlling
spam e-mails.
'The thing we are investing the most in is our work on
security,' Gates said, adding that users should feel more
secure in giving out their credit card numbers and other
information online.
'I think the security challenge certainly for the forseeable
future will be the biggest thing.'
Gates also said the 'next big thing' on the information
technology horizon is pushing the functions of the Internet to
a higher level, such as making online searches faster and
easier.
'The Internet is so popular today that we need to just keep
evolving ... the way we navigate information -- we need to
make it easier to find.
'People are very impressed about searches today but it's
really quite poor compared to what it should be,' Gates said.
He said searching for information on the web directs the user
to a lot of links instead of giving out the information
immediately.
'(A) higher level of understanding (by the computer) -- that's
the biggest thing because it means you will write a lot less
code and you'll find anything you want very quickly,' he said.
Gates said the next 10 years will be 'far more interesting'
than the past 30 years because technology gains will change at
a faster pace the way people work and live.
2005 Forbes.com Inc
--------------------------------------------------------------
http://news.com.com/Gates+considers+Xbox+clones/2100-1043_3-5770507.html
Gates considering Xbox clones?
By Michael Singer
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is dropping hints that he may be
ready to license the brains of the Xbox gaming device to other
companies. It's a risky move to better compete with Sony's
PlayStation, according to one analyst.
In an interview with Nikkei Newspaper in Tokyo, Gates was
asked whether Microsoft would consider opening the manufacture
of Xbox units to third parties. Gates responded that "there is
nothing concrete" but said the company is always talking with
partners about how to expand the Xbox culture.
Gates declined to give details, such as which companies
Microsoft might be thinking about working with or if a license
would be extended to the underlying software of other
electronics equipment, such as handheld devices, PCs or home
digital media centers.
Microsoft's Xbox currently plays second fiddle to Sony's
PlayStation when it comes to sales, with Nintendo's GameCube
ranking third. The PlayStation makes up more than 60 percent
of the market, with the Xbox accounting for 29 percent of
sales and the GameCube rounding out the top-tier players with
11 percent, according to the latest statistics from NPD Group.
All three console makers are preparing their next-generation
gaming box. Microsoft's Xbox 360 is expected to hit store
shelves later this year, with Sony's PlayStation 3 available
soon after and Nintendo's Revolution console expected in 2006.
Despite the suggestion that Microsoft's device could be
cloned, Xbox representative Molly O'Donnell reaffirmed the
company's stance that the Xbox is exclusively a Microsoft
product.
"There's certainly a potential for other hardware companies to
manufacture Xbox some day in the future, but that is not
something we're focused on right now," she said.
Licensing the Xbox's underlying software to other
manufacturers is, of course, not outside the realm of
Microsoft's capabilities. The company found sterling success
in licensing its Windows operating system to PC makers.
But breaking the traditional proprietary mold of the game
console world is something no one else has tried and something
JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg says would be a
bold move on Microsoft's part.
"Clearly, everyone at Microsoft is thinking out of the box to
increase sales. I mean, look at the nontraditional way of
introducing the Xbox on MTV," Gartenberg said. "It sounds like
they are just testing the waters with a hybrid of the (white
box) PC model and the (proprietary hardware) video game
model."
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Gartenberg said Microsoft's strategy may be centered on gaming
software. The majority of money made in the video game
industry comes from the games themselves, not from the
hardware. Recently, both Microsoft and Sony reported that the
newer models of their devices will be priced far less than the
cost needed to make them.
Microsoft's reasoning, Gartenberg said, may be that the more
Xbox-like consoles there were on the market, the easier it
would be to sell Xbox-branded games. That would mean Microsoft
would have a larger market for the titles it published. And it
could also put the squeeze on the PlayStation by inspiring
game developers to focus on titles for the Xbox and its
generic brethren.
"No one video game software developer just writes for Xbox,"
Gartenberg said. "But what it would do is tell publishers,
'Hey, look how many more consoles we are on.'
"Still," Gartenberg said, "Microsoft would have to make sure
that all the people who license their Xbox are up to their
standards, and at the end of the day they would still be
competing with Xbox sales."
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