Should Bill Gates be running Microsoft?

Yes a controversial title, I know.  But looking at some of the speeches he has made over the years surely you have to wonder if he really knows what he is talking about.

Yes I am trolling a little bit, but I am interested in finding out how many people here actually think he is more than human (which seems to be a fairly common opinion inside Microsoft).

No.

And he doesn't, hasn't for a very long time.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!  To the topic at hand...

As much as he is running Microsoft, he's still doing a pretty good job.  Now, give all the accusations of paid-for surveys you want, but Gates is still regarded throughout the business world as one of, if not the, most respected executive in business today.  The fact is though, overall, Gates is still able to talk with a pretty firm grasp of knowledge about software and IT in general and still has sway when he talks, be it to developers at PDC, be it to Prime Ministers or Presidents, be it to the influencers of world economics at Davos.

Its one of the peculiarities with the IT world, maybe shared with construction firms, that executives sometimes have even a coarse-grained idea of the technical points of the end product, and Gates has said time and again that Speech is something not only he is interested in, but has been a long-standing goal of the IT industry.  Indeed, one of the quotes from the link in your post gives an insight into that:

 “You know, when I was a student at Harvard, the defense DARPA group was giving out money to universities that said, yes, in three years we’ll have great speech recognition … And so the frontiers that are out there — great handwriting recognition, great speech recognition, even having the computer have a visual capability so it can see who’s coming in".

I personally think this is more to do with his own interest, and this is more, as stated above, a non-consumer-driven goal for these MIT-esque techie types because I know using Speech recognition in an office is a non-starter (for instance, colleagues laughing at you and telling you to shut up as you train something like ZoomText, Dragon Dictate or Windows speech wizard in the middle of a busy office!).  However, having an interest in accessibility software, great speech recognition is something that should be persued to allow more channels of communication with a computer and allow people with physical dexterity issues to use computers better.

Criticising him for not knowing the ins-and-outs of Speech recognition technology is about the same as demanding Larry Ellison resigns at Oracle because he can't give you an essay on the pros-and-cons of relational databases against object-oriented databases

I don't have the knowledge to say. Presumably he has a lot of influence on the way the company runs, and the company is maintaining its success and so presumably he's doing a good job.

As an outsider who's seen him "live" on several occasions I've found him invariably the same - dull, boring, peddling the same old cant and rhetoric and I find it hard to stay awake. He's like a robot that's been programmed by one of those auto-speech generation programmes. I remember one time someone posted an Internet video of him at a conference speaking "off the record" to a few of the "high powered" folks at Fawcette or somesuch and it was disappointing that he was spouting the same very obvious generalisations and platitudes about computing as he does in his speeches. He was just as boring, unintelligent and just plain dull in that "private conversation" as he is on a platform. 

But obviously the "real" Bill is a lot different from that. One hears anecdotes about how ruthless he can be (and let's face it you have to be ruthless to be that successful - one very good reason for staying clear of rich, successful people ). I admire his charity work and his attitude towards certain things but that doesn't mean I'd like him if I met him (I'm pretty sure I wouldn't). I'm impressed at the way he's turned the company round in the past (the Internet being the best example).

So in answer to your question: Yes  it seems he should

Artificial Intelligence has been under research since the begining of 1900's yet all we have now is so called expert sytems or similar "programs" .it is the same in speech,handwriting,and other  recognition softwares. you can estimate when it can be done but not predicted. All his speeches are based on those estimates. when he is spending billions on researching it i doubt he won't be in touch with them. but he has done it finaly right? there is a commercial product Microsoft speech server  . It still has a long way to go but what is life without challanges and as long as anyone is willing to face challanges he/she has the right to lead others behind him/her.

PS: handwriting recognition has improved a LOT, just checkout tablet PCs and can be used regularly. Speech will also be conquered

My thoughts, seeing as I posted the original link are that I think I would prefer to see the ruthless passionate Gates, rather than the dull boring fluffy Gates that Marketing and PR have turned him into.

I don't particularly mind that he has been suggesting speech would be here in the next decade for the last decade, and pretty much regurgitating the same talk year after year, but I do worry about the undue weight he puts behind things like the SPOT watch, of which as far as I can tell takeup has been very slow indeed.

Maybe if he had a blog un-censored by PR types it might improve the light in which he is seen (as a businessman).  I don't think anyone can fault his generosity and charity work.

Rossj wrote:

I think I would prefer to see the ruthless passionate Gates, rather than the dull boring fluffy Gates that Marketing and PR have turned him into.

Me too ,but as time passes everyone must move on and some one must fill in as no one can live forever.

bander wrote:

I bet we would've be either running Linux (yakk) or still relying on Mac's one button mouse!!"

Mac might be, but Linux no. To many people it still is an Alternative and many use it just because they hate Microsoft

I thought Ballmer is running the whole game now.. I mean he has been the CEO since 2000; I guess :O

Bill has and still doing a great job; BASIC, DOS, Windows, Office, etc. As for being human.. he is truly a great guy! I met him twice in switzerland and it was an outstanding moment that lasted for almost 40 seconds but for the second time, it was much better, It lasted for more than 10 minutes! LoooL

My humble opinion: "Bill Gates and passionate Microsoft employees whom changed the way technology is today; I mean they contributed in shifting (upgrading ) our life style and the look of the future, imagine without Bill's work what would the world look like now?? I bet we would've be either running Linux (yakk) or still relying on Mac's one button mouse!!"

Cider wrote:

I personally think this is more to do with his own interest, and this is more, as stated above, a non-consumer-driven goal for these MIT-esque techie types because I know using Speech recognition in an office is a non-starter (for instance, colleagues laughing at you and telling you to shut up as you train something like ZoomText, Dragon Dictate or Windows speech wizard in the middle of a busy office!).  However, having an interest in accessibility software, great speech recognition is something that should be persued to allow more channels of communication with a computer and allow people with physical dexterity issues to use computers better.

You are only looking at one aspect here.  Speech recognition is EXTREMELY consumer-oriented, but on a different level than what you are thinking about.  I work for an ISP/telecom company, and good speech recognition is something that we dream of for ages.  Because the real strength of it lies in applications that are driven over the phone!!!  So people don't have to press buttons anymore to navigate IVR-menus with so many options that they have forgotten what the "press 1" meant when the voice is talking about "press 6"    See what I mean?  It's so much more friendly when you can just say what you want.  Some services like 1800-555-TELL are doing a great job, but there is still a lot of room for improvement!

So GO microsoft, and finally make speech recognition an everyday reality!

Perhaps not, but if he didnt then who would be best to take his place, Steve Jobs?? now that would be something to watch out for;)

pugsley0502 wrote:

Perhaps not, but if he didnt then who would be best to take his place, Steve Jobs?? now that would be something to watch out for

The share price wouldn't be so static then!! But I don't think he'd do well in the Enterprise market for servers and suchlike.