I’m sorry that we have to have a Washington presence. We thrived during our first 16 years without any of this. I never made a political visit to Washington and we had no people here. It wasn’t on our radar screen. We were just making great software.
I remember thinking quite logically that I didn’t want to spoil my children with wealth and so that I would create a foundation, but not knowing exactly what it would focus on.
I think it’s fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we’ve ever created. They’re tools of communication, they’re tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user.
You know capitalism is this wonderful thing that motivates people, it causes wonderful inventions to be done. But in this area of diseases of the world at large, it’s really let us down.
A first-generation fortune is the most likely to be given away, but once a fortune is inherited it’s less likely that a very high percentage will go back to society.
Like almost everyone who uses e-mail, I receive a ton of spam every day. Much of it offers to help me get out of debt or get rich quick. It would be funny if it weren’t so exciting.
You have to have a certain realism that government is a pretty blunt instrument and without the constant attention of highly qualified people with the right metrics, it will fall into not doing things very well.
Two years from now, spam will be solved.
In terms of doing things I take a fairly scientific approach to why things happen and how they happen. I don’t know if there’s a god or not, but I think religious principles are quite valid.
In terms of fast food and deep understanding of the culture of fast food, I’m your man.
Like a human being, a company has to have an internal communication mechanism, a “nervous system”, to coordinate its actions.
The need to communicate effectively with your customers will come up again and again.
The flatter the corporate hierarchy, the more likely it is that employees will communicate bad news and act upon it.
This antitrust thing will blow over.
I’m a big believer that as much as possible, and there’s obviously political limitations, freedom of migration is a good thing.
There is a certain responsibility that accrued to me when I got to this unexpected position.
If something is expensive to develop, and somebody’s not going to get paid, it won’t get developed. So you decide: Do you want software to be written, or not?
Nobody spends any money on smallpox unless they worry about a bio-terrorist recreating it.
Microsoft Products are Generally Bug Free.
Microsoft is always two years away from failure.