ETRE Conference Rome (2001): Part 4

In our final show on the European Technology Roundtable and Exhibition in Rome we wrap up what leaders in the technology field envision for the future. [Episode #1917, First broadcast: 1/8/2002] First, Bill Gates gives his opinion on what it will take for the high-tech economy to bounce back, then, he talks about XML software, web services, and how Microsoft’s passport application will help small businesses on the Internet. Meanwhile, Tony Perkins from the Red Herring describes Microsoft as tentacled monster now that the Justice Department heat is off and the company is expanding into a game box company, a media company, an Internet company and more. And Symantec CEO John Thompson argues that there is still room for the software industry even as Windows bundles more functionality into its operating system. Next up is the future of bruised business-to-business companies. Commerce One CEO Marc Hoffman says the b-to-b industry is here to stay and explains how suppliers were resisting new Internet sales models in the past and what the industry has learned from the business-to-commerce companies. The Red Herring’s Tony Perkins comments on how all companies will soon realize they must be able to automate buying and selling like Dell and Cisco to be competitive. And finally, what does the future of the Internet look like? For Bill Gates, speech recognition is one of the most exciting new technologies as well as information appliances. Michael Dell says the future of the Internet begins with smarter ways to sell things with business models that Dell is using. Tony Perkins estimates that business in mobile devices will quadruple and Dan Gillmor from the San Jose Mercury News says new operating systems will be used with improved network security. Tim Draper from Draper, Fisher, Jurvetson gets excited about nanotechnology and the future of circuits with atoms while Marimba Chairwoman Kim Polesi is convinced that the Internet will succeed when it disappears