In his 2008 CES keynote presentation tonight, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates described three things that he thinks will dominate the next decade in technology:
Direct link via YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uau0aIbrzkQ
Seriously though, tonight Gates talked about the following:
1. High Definition everywhere
2. Everything will be interconnected and sharable
3. Power of “Natural User Interface”
In describing his third point, Gates mentioned touch (including Apple’s iPhone by name), speech, pen-based, and gestures as ways users will interface with machines and devices in the next decade.
Gates claimed that Microsoft has “100 million people using Vista now.”
Gates then claimed “over 10 million new users” for Windows Mobile last year and that Microsoft “will double that in the next year.”
Gates then ceded the stage to Mika Krammer, Director of WIndows Project Management who claimed that Windows is “her lifeline.”
MacDailyNews Take: Livin’ dangerously there, Mika.
Blah, blah, blah and Mika departed. Gates came back out and demoed Microsoft’s Big Ass Table. It’s all very Jeff Han three years ago. Gates failed to mention that Microsoft has delayed their Weak iPhone Obfuscatory / Me Too Campaign, er… Big Ass Table.
Gates shilled for Silverlight, Microsoft’s “Flash killer,” and announced that NBC (who else) will partner with Microsoft to broadcast the Bejing 2008 Olympics using SIlverlight. Naturally, no mention was made of the 2008 Olympic Organizing Committee dumping the unstable, unreliable Windows Vista.
Robbie Bach, Microsoft’s President of Entertainment & Devices Division then came out – scarily clad in a light blue V-Neck sweater just like Gates’ light purple one – to tout the many money losing products that Robbie oversees, such as Xbox (over which Microsoft is being sued yet again, this time not for defective machines (Red Ring of Death), but for recent Xbox Live outages) and Zune. Bach announced that Disney, Disney’s ABC, and MGM will be bringing content to Xbox Live (Did Steve Jobs sign off on that one?) There was no word whether MGM’s version of The Emperor’s New Clothes would be available. Probably not. Bach then said that “this is not a hobby” for Microsoft, wiggling his fingers in air quotes during “hobby” in a clear slam at Apple’s Steve Jobs who referred to Apple TV as a “hobby” last year.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ll see how much of a “hobby” Apple TV is next week when a real visionary keynotes Macworld Expo.
Bach then claimed, with a straight face, that Zune is “becoming the clear alternative to the iPod.” That would, no doubt, be news to the real clear-yet-distant #2, SanDisk. Microsoft is so psyched to be #5 or whatever, that they’re vowing to inflict Zune upon Canadians this spring. Oh, you lucky Canucks! Come spring, you’ll get to ignore Zune just like us Yanks.
MacDailyNews Take: Nothing against Canada, we love Canada, but if Zune is such a rip-roarin’ success, why stop at Canada? Why not bring Zune to the entire world? Because it’s a failure, that’s why.
Bach then demoed “Microsoft Sync” in a Ford car onstage which allows for voice controlling iPods (and other MP3 players) and iPhones (and other mobile phones) in Ford vehicles. Amazingly, both doors stayed on the vehicle despite being opened and closed at least once.
Bach then claimed that Microsoft’s Windows Mobile is “a leader” in mobile phones, says that Windows Mobile “outsells Blackberry, outsells iPhone,” and then talked excitedly about how Microsoft is taking a very serious approach to mobile advertising.
Gates then returned to demo a huge black brick that you can point at people and places that recognizes faces and buildings and presents information – and ads – relating to what the device’s camera is seeing. Of course, no shipping date was mentioned.
Gates then took on Bach in Guitar Hero contest with Guitar Hero Champion Kelly Law-Yone standing in for Bach and Slash standing in for Gates. Each played guitar and then the keynote ended.
You can see Gates’ CES 2008 keynote here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yawn.
How fun.
YAWN!!! is right. Windows is Mika’s lifeline? So, breathing but no real brain activity.
“claims that Microsoft’s Windows Mobile is “a leader” in mobile phones, says that Windows Mobile “outsells Blackberry, outsells iPhone,” …. um… sorry did I miss something… most of the media that I’ve seen shows the iPhone outselling Windows Mobile at a huge pace. Quite honestly, these morons are scrambling. Vista SUCKS and their Roman Empire crumbles more everyday. Boo hoo!
Outsells iPhone? Try again, as in currently has sold more than iPhone because of it’s what, ten year head start? That’s all they have, the same way they like to pretend they are ahead of the the PS3 because of their 18 month head start.
WinCe Mobile is going to get it’s head handed to it by a single device from a single company. It won’t just be as much fun to point and laugh at WinCe just because it is going to get outsold by the iPhone, but what will really make it laughable will be the fact that there are dozens of WinCE alternatives to the iPhone and that collective will get destroyed by a single device from a single company. The more you think about it, the funnier it gets.
I tried to use Silverlight for Safari to watch the keynote, and the sound didn’t work and the video was horrible. Some “flash killer” there, Bill. Microsoft blows.
silverlight technology works well. only a mac-fanatic would bitch and moan about the technology at this point…
xbox has sold more than ps3. and every month since the ps3 launched, the xbox has continued to outsell it. so slice and dice the numbers however you want, the xbox is beating ps3… not sure why/how that’s even being argued…
Must be some new users to MDN.
look, bill does fine. You have to remember he is representing a company that peaked 7 years ago. You can’t stay on top forever, that is just the sad facts. Apple is now rising where it should have been long ago. Soon Apple will have the huge market share and their run on top will begin. Where MS screwed up is that they could not figure out what was coming next. There is only one Steve Jobs, and currently he is employed by Apple.
I’ll watch it tomorrow, but I guess he didn’t introduce anything to do with HD DVD? lol
I used Silverlight in Firefox and it was so bad, I killed it, after the tongue-in-cheek clip on Bill’s last day. Bono and Gore were in there amongst others.
I can’t say it was too thrilling after seeing Steve’s keynotes.
I’m glad to have a Mac, and a Wii!!!!
I am a Canadian who loves shopping in the US. Always have. But this last year or more, I’ve had to make a concentrated effort to avoid the Zune. Now it’s coming up here!? Not the export that I’ve been waiting for. I’m more interested in the full iTunes movie library, etc. Anyway, I guess it was bound to happen.
and the Wii is outselling them both. I just love the “in the year 2000” performance Bill puts on every year. Last year it was talking to Grandma on your wall. Now its a huge brick that tells you you’re looking at a restaurant 500 yds away. Ok seriously, when do you really think this shit is going to happen? They didn’t release anything, they just showed vaporware that will probably never see the day of light.
Do you believe in magic? In a young girls heart?
Well Bill Gates does!!! SUPER!!!!!
Here’s a prediction. The Beijing Olympics will crawl to a halt due to repeated crashes on a combination of Windows, Silverlight and IPTV snafus. The solution, of course, is an array of xServes and Macs with Leopard Server and Leopard.
I told my wife that this is Gates last keynote at CES.
She asked what — other than the BIG ASS TABLE — he could possibly announce. Then, wondered aloud — if it might be that Vista now comes in a red box.
LOL
100 million?
Hmmm.
Maybe. I’m using Windows Vista right now (being someone who loves the Mac but isn’t a “Mac scientologist.”). I just can’t believe 100,000,000 people are using vista.
Advertising on their phones. That’s what people have been clamouring for?
“Using Vista” is defined as including the casual Best Buy shopper spending a couple of minutes testing out the latest laptops with Vista preinstalled. BTW, anyone know whether chuckling and/or laughing could be heard whenever Gates or Bach uttered something outrageous (like Vista shipment numbers or Zune popularity dreams)?
I wonder how people can get up there in front of the world and lie like that. Bill would make a great President.
100 million people using Vista? Good Lord, even Microsoft Watch had to correct him on this. Still, the Watch went on to claim Vista as some sort of “success”, but I think not:
100 Million Vistas Sold: Some May Be In Actual Use.
Watched the keynote. There’s a whole lot more to it than is indicated by MDN, or most of the joke comments.
It was actually very good for a Microsoft Keynote. I only dozed off once.
MS demonstrated Silverlight (which you will be downloading and using at some point), SYNC in a Ford, the Zune online social experience (iTunes could learn a trick or 2), etc. Yes Bill did demonstrate the table which I think is more than promising.
I was a bit put off by the whole Windows Live demonstration, but what all the demos made clear is that there will be a Microsoft pervasiveness across numerous platforms. Considering that much of this is going to be .NET based, there is a considerable threat to Apple.
Businesses are likely to buy off on this pervasiveness, and I worry that Apple devices and services will become isolated in the coming interconnected world.
This isn’t about what’s better. It’s about what’s real. I love Mac OS X to death, but I’m not so pig headed and blind that I can’t rationally evaluate the strengths of other platforms.
I mean isn’t that what “we” accuse Microsoft-Centric IT managers of doing?
Microsoft’s strength is that they are primarily delivering software for countless devices. Apple’s weakness is that they are delivering software for a handful of proprietary devices. I for one am curious as to how Apple plans to meet the challenge of Microsoft pervasiveness.
Well said theloniousMac!
So, Gates predicts 3 things that ANYONE could predict if they have bought a computer or touch device in the last 2 years.
Big fscking deal.
My 7 year old boy could have predicted these.
Lets face it, Gates is not visionary – infact he’s quite the opposite.
It dont take a genius to work out that the iPhone was so revolutionary that the next step will be touch devices everywhere.
Gates, go back to counting your billions and do something useful for once in your life – use your money to help the poor, starving and people with no future and don’t waste your 15years left on this planet trying to predict things THAT ARE BLOODY OBVIOUS.
I think theloniusMac is confused re: the term proprietary.
MS is NOT a standards factory. They ‘….are primarily delivering software for countless devices…’ which has NOT been through some formal Open Standards process much less been accepted by the OSS bodies. Therefore it IS proprietary.
They foist their solutions onto countless tech companies who lack the skills/money to develop their own stuff.
Apple might just meet the ‘challenge of Microsoft pervasiveness’ by producing stuff that people actually care about, stuff that actually works!