News flash: Microsoft is responsible for creating the PC industry

Here’s something I didn’t know. In a recent interview with Peter Jennings, Bill Gates said: “We’re responsible for the creation of the PC industry”. Millions of Apple II, Commodore, and TRS-80 users would beg to differ on that point, Bill.

Oh well, he also said “Security is, I would say, our top priority”, and “But if any one company has done a lot of unique work, breakthrough work, risk-taking work, that’s gotta be Microsoft.” So perhaps he was just going for laughs in the interview. Come to think of it, a lot of what happens in Microsoftland makes a lot more sense if you look at it as a kind of surrealist comedy. Bill Gates is the straight Steven Wright-like character and Ballmer as the nutty clowny-head. We should have all realised this when they made Microsoft Bob (which still sounds like a bad haircut).