Seasoned campaigner
The BBC managed to get Microsoft chairman Bill Gates to appear on its HARDtalk programme, which is positioned as giving interviewees a hard time by asking hard questions, etc.
The premise of the interview was not to talk about technology, but to discuss what occupies ninety percent of is working time - philanthropy. But the interviewer couldn't resist sneaking in some tech stuff towards the end.
The opening question concerned Microsoft's acquisition of Skype, and whether or not it overpaid. Gates dodged the value angle as easily as he did all other questions he didn't feel like dignifying with an answer, but he did reveal: "I was a strong proponent at board level of the deal being done."
The other main line of tech questioning concerned Microsoft's relative failure in the mobile market. Once more Gates simply swatted aside questions he didn't feel like answering, but he observed that the mobile device revolution has put software centre stage once more. "The importance of software is higher today than ever," said Gates.
You can see the interview here - for some reason the Beeb won't let us embed it even though we've already paid for it. Gates concludes on a poignant note when asked if he thinks Internet connectivity should be a fundamental human right, by asking how high a priority we think it would be to a mother who had lost a child. Puts things in perspective.
Gates had a slightly supercilious smile throughout the interview, but it was more that of a parent indulging a precocious but clumsy child, than the apparent megalomaniacal ‘how dare you question me?' hauteur of Steve Jobs. While he will be as keen as anyone to see Microsoft get back in the mobile game, he seemed happy to not have to deal with this sort of thing on a daily basis anymore.
