At the AllThingsD conference yesterday, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were interviewed together about the past, present, and future of computing. They were asked about what they might be carrying five years from now, and the response was interesting.
Quote:
What are the devices you might carry around five years from now?
Gates: I think you’ll have a number of devices. A tablet and then another smaller one that you can carry around in your pocket. Those are natural form factors.Jobs: The PC has been very resilient. Its death has been predicted many times. But the Internet came around and invigorated it. And then it plateaued again. And then digital media came around and invigorated it again. And so I think the PC is going to continue to be with us. But then there’s an explosion in post-PC devices. There’s a category of devices that aren’t general purpose. They’re more focused and that category is going to continue to be very innovative.
What are the core applications of these portable devices?
Gates says we’ll have a broad range of choice, but one that will be limited by their size. He notes that you still can’t reasonably edit your homework on a cellphone screen.
Jobs says he doesn’t know what will be on these devices. Why? “Because five years ago, I never thought there would be maps on them. But now there are.â€
Full interview: d5.allthingsd.com/20070530/d5-gates-jobs-interview/