Robert Scoble gave me a huge present today (he writes about it here) - lunch with Bill Gates at Mix 06. All Robert told me (and two others - Albert Lai and Lynda Weinman) was to show up at a certain room at noon for a cool lunch. I was a bit preoccupied with a panel I was speaking on at 1:30 on business models for web 2.0 companies, and so didn’t give it much thought.
I knew something was up when I arrived because there was very heavy security, and then I was told that Bill Gates would be joining us. I asked a few questions, specifically about what Microsoft’s plans are around an online version of Office. Bill responded at length without really giving an answer. He did say that he thought people were too infatuated with the thought of an online version of Office, but that they were really focused on the idea of cloud storage for office files. This fits right in with their strategies around Office Live, of course (my posts on Office Live are here).
There were three pictures of me with Bill - which I’ve put up on flickr. Ok, yes, I was starstruck. Thank you very much Robert for putting this together!
That is awesome Mike, and a very nice “present” by Robert too. What a way to start a week in Vegas! I’d go place some bets.
All I can say is wow…
What, no pics of you hitting Bill with a custard pie?
Of course we all know what the meeting was really about
Lunch with Bill Gates > *.powerlunch
Congrats on the experience!
“So I had lunch with Bill Gates Today”
Wait till Steve Gillmor hears about this!
Cool!!
You’re not, uh, you’re not, you’re not good….
Nice. What a day you’ve had. Way to go.
Why the question about online versions of Office? Microsoft tried that around 1999: see, for example,
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-232659.html
You accessed it via the Windows Terminal Services client, and it worked pretty well, considering.
A bunch of companies were lined up to offer it, such as Qwest, Concentric Network, BT and Verio, and I think it also appeared on Microsoft’s bCentral.com
Offering applications online was part of the great Microsoft.Net strategy and a thousand ASPs (application service providers) were supposed to bloom….
All so last century, really, don’t you think?
At least when Microsoft offered OWA (Outlook Web Access) in the 1990s, it was smart enough to invent AJAXing!
Everytime I see a picture of Bill Gates, I cannot believe how the richest man in the world can always be dressed up with such a lousy taste…
All of regular people have lunch 1.0, what mike had is lunch 2.0…
Just a question: What is ths red stuff in the glases?
Hey Mike, TechCrunch keeps growing at this rate and Bill Gates’ll be posting photos of the time he had lunch with Mike Arrington on his Flicker stream!
As Napolean Dynamite would say: “Lucky!”
Amazing lunch Mike! You’re awesome!
Here is an interesting perspective on Windows Vista and how it will affect online video, music, and photos.
Why Windows Vista Delay is Bad News for Apple and Google
What next,golf with “W”? Congrats.
Very nice!
The only “cloud storage” around is the one obscuring Bill’s thinking. The longer Microsoft stays in denial, the harder it will be for them to catch up - maybe never.
Software as a service is here to stay, and with bandwidth becoming a commodity, there are a lot of reasons why an online application works better. My storage cloud could be as simple as a UBS drive. Why do I need Microsoft for that? Furthermore, the word processing functionality part is largely becoming an insignificant commodity.
Interesting how Microsoft came along to replace Wang (over time and by eliminating other PC software competitors) with the next generation word processor. Apparently the same thing will happen to Microsoft as the fat PC becomes as irrelevant as the minicomputer.
bill gate…u is my fans…dam you why so rich …
how u become that….
By being educated. Something you might be sorely lacking if your spelling is an indicator. Yes, I am a fan of his success also. Thanks to Bill Gates I get to type this.