Exclusive: A chat with Bill Gates
PC Mag | at | by Mike
At January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, PC Magazine editor-in-chief Michael Miller talked with Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates. The conversation ranged from Tablet PCs and Microsoft's effort-dubbed SPOT-to infuse watches and other everyday objects with online intelligence, to a slated Xbox Live showdown between Gates and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal. "I'm a little worried," Gates conceded, regarding the face-off with Shaq.
MM: You have introduced all sorts of new platforms over the last year. In particular, we've seen Smart Displays, the Tablet PC, Media Center, and SPOT (Smart Personal Object Technology). Which is the one that you've been the closest to?
BG: The common thread for everything I do is this idea of a Web-services architecture. What does that mean? It means taking components of software and systems and having them be self-describing, so that you can aim them, ask them what their capabilities are, and communicate with them using a standard protocol.