People are always coming up to me and saying, ‘I heard your dad’s speech, and it’s really great.’ And they’ll mention some place I didn’t even know my dad was going to.
A lot of people assume that creating software is purely a solitary activity where you sit in an office with the door closed all day and write lots of code.
3D is a way of organizing things, particularly as we’re getting much more media information on the computer, a lot more choices, a lot more navigation than we’ve ever had before.
The most interesting biofuel efforts avoid using land that’s expensive and has high opportunity costs. They do this by getting onto other types of land, or taking advantage of byproducts that aren’t used in the food chain today, or by intercropping.
People are going to buy cheap fertilizer so they can grow enough crops to feed themselves, which will be increasingly difficult with climate change.
Nigeria has moved into low-middle-income, but their north is very poor, and the health care systems there have broken down.
It’s hard to improve public education – that’s clear.
Well-spent aid money is saving lives for a few thousand dollars per life saved.
Africa is on the rise.
AIDS itself is subject to incredible stigma.
Drones overall will be more impactful than I think people recognize, in positive ways to help society.
Flying cars are not a very efficient way to move things from one point to another.
I am results-oriented.
I didn’t used to wear a watch. Now I have a SPOT watch, which I wear all the time.
I don’t generally read a lot of fiction.
The main thing that’s missing in energy is an incentive to create things that are zero-CO2-emitting and that have the right scale and reliability characteristics.
I don’t like typing messages on my phone. Some people get used to it.
I meet people overseas that know five languages – that the only language I’m comfortable in is English.
I’m never fully satisfied with any Microsoft product.
If I hadn’t given my money away, I’d have had more than anyone else on the planet.