Wired Interviews Bill Gates 1996
Why Hacker News recommends it
People recommend it as a rare, unpolished look at Gates's mid-90s thinking, including predictions that aged well and badly.
What it is
Unreleased 1996 footage of the Wired editors interviewing Bill Gates when he visited their office. Gates talks about software, the internet and Microsoft's thinking at the time. The video is about 53 minutes long.
Recommended by 3 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2020 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec pengaru · 2020-08 · on “Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media”
I strongly recommend watching the impromptu interview Bill Gates gave back in the 90s while visiting the Wired office, for gaining some valuable perspective on his thinking, and how comically wrong he's been before. My internet is too flaky here at the moment to verify, but I believe this is the URL: [this video]
Recommends sramam · 2020-10 · on “How Satya Nadella turned Microsoft around”
This. This [1] wired interview provides an insight into the structured thinking at Microsoft/Gates even back in 1996. I'm sure this kind of thinking permeates any successful company, to have a video of this depth, and now available for public viewing, is really unique. [1] [this video]
Recommends antaviana · 2025-02 · on “20 years working on the same software product”
I believe it is in this interview from 1996 where I saw Bill Gates saying the same thing about Microsoft products, he saw them as subscriptions. It’s a long but interesting interview. [this video]