Microsoft Courts CEOs at Summit

Bill Gates has urged some of the world’s top business leaders to get ready for the “Third Stage” of the Internet, in which digital technologies move the Internet from static pages or basic transactions to rich interactions between individuals and information. Adoption of digital technologies can dramatically improve the efficiency of knowledge workers, Gates said. But broadband adoption, a major focus of Microsoft’s investments and acquisitions, is below his expectations, Gates admitted.

Gates’s remarks came at Microsoft’s fourth annual CEO Summit, attended by CEOs from more than 28 countries and 37 industries, as diverse as John Chambers from networking giant Cisco to Martha Stewart of homemaking fame. Speaking frequently about the “magic of software,” Gates painted a rosy picture of a world in which knowledge workers are empowered by new technologies that enhance their ability to act and analyze.

It is difficult to predict how quickly technology will be adopted, Gates said, noting that new technologies often experience “non-linear” rather than gradual popularity. They find few takers in their early stages, when their usability is about 85%, but small enhancements take them over “some magic threshold” where market acceptance explodes. Digital photography and digital music are rising rapidly up the adoption curve. Electronic books and digital tablets for note-taking and other activities are technologies currently going through earlier stages of the adoption process, he said.