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All posts tagged "gates"


Monday, January 7, 2008

CES 2008: Bill Gates' Keynote

Posted by Darius Wey in "Zune Talk" @ 01:38 AM



Prior to this keynote, Bill Gates had presented at CES eleven times. Ten of those were keynotes and eight were given consecutively. This year's was to be his last while in his full-time role at Microsoft. Gates looked back at his first keynote in 1994 - he recalled it with great significance as it was a time when Windows 95 was coming together and the Internet was starting to boom. He spoke of the years following as the first digital decade. A period when the world saw one billion PCs populate homes and businesses around the world, 250 million broadband subscribers, and a growth in mobile phone adoption to 41% of the world's population in 2006. There was a heavy emphasis on the digitalization of audio and visual and how it all came down to software. Software-driven entertainment and connected services were very much the focus of his keynote and what he believed would drive the second digital decade.
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Sunday, January 7, 2007

Watch Bill Gates' CES Keynote Live at 6:30pm PST

Posted by Darius Wey in "Zune Events" @ 06:30 PM

http://www.microsoft.com/ces/

"For Microsoft, CES is about bringing together personal creativity, content and community, to deliver connected experiences throughout the day - providing the tools to connect people to their communities and entertainment no matter where they are. Join Bill Gates as he keynotes 2007 CES demonstrating how Microsoft is delivering a new generation of connected experiences. Bill will be joined by Robbie Bach in announcing several new offerings from Windows Vista, Xbox 360, Microsoft TV and more."



In about an hour's time, Bill Gates will deliver his CES keynote where he will highlight new and upcoming Microsoft technologies, including, but not limited to, Zune. At 6:30pm PST, visit the "Microsoft at CES" web site and watch the keynote live.

Update: Windows Media Player - 100k, 220k, 550k.


Friday, December 15, 2006

Bill Gates on DRM

Posted by Aaron Roma in "Zune Talk" @ 10:00 AM

http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/12/14/bill-gates-on-the-future-of-drm/

"Gates didn’t get into what could replace DRM, but he did give some reasonably candid insights suggesting that he thinks DRM is as lame as the rest of us. Gates said that no one is satisfied with the current state of DRM, which “causes too much pain for legitmate buyers” while trying to distinguish between legal and illegal uses. He says no one has done it right, yet. There are “huge problems” with DRM... His short term advice: “People should just buy a cd and rip it. You are legal then.”"

I think most of us would agree that DRM, at least in its current form, is a complete disaster. While I can understand the industry's desire for DRM, the implementation is flat out not making the grade. People who want to steal music are going to steal it. DRM hinders those of us who are legit buyers from using music we legally purchase. While I have purchased a few DRMed tracks, I mostly adhere to Gate's advice of purchasing the CD and ripping it. Although initially Zune had to make quite a few concessions to the DRM gods to get its feet off the ground, it would be nice to see Zune reach a place market where it can positively affect the state of DRM.

Tags: drm, gates

Monday, November 20, 2006

Bill Gates on Zune and Office

Posted by Darius Wey in "Thoughts Media Off Topic" @ 05:30 AM

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39284766,00.htm

"Bill Gates knows that when it comes to the Zune, Microsoft has some catching up to do. The success of the iPod has been described as "phenomenal, unbelievable, fantastic". And that was just Gates talking about it on Wednesday. But despite catching up, Gates thinks that Microsoft can win some pocket share for its own media player, over time. While today's music players are largely islands, the Microsoft chairman paints a picture of a future in which all manner of devices - from cars to music players to digital cameras - all share data."



ZDNet has posted the first part of a two-part interview with Bill Gates, who talks about Zune and where it fits in Microsoft's vision of connected entertainment, and what's new in Office 2007. Worth a read!


Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Shots of the Seattle Launch

Posted by Darius Wey in "Zune Events" @ 10:30 PM

http://www.zunerama.com/#061113_zune2_story

"A Zune is born this day. This morning, Bill Gates bounced on stage, in Zune jacket and all, and introduced Zune to a crowd of enthusiastic Seattleites. Bill was preceded on stage by Secret Machines, who played a short set. We had breakfast with the Zune team, along with some lucky contest winners, and with Ben, Brandon, and Josh from Secret Machines."



It looked pretty cold in Seattle yesterday, but that wasn't going to stop the people gathering to see what Bill Gates and the Zune team had up their sleeves. Harvey from Zunerama snapped a few shots of the action. Head over there for a look.


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