Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of
Microsoft, regularly visits US universities to encourage students
to pursue computer science careers - "evangelising".
This year his reception has been mixed, with some Berkley
students unhappy about his responses to questions about increasing
competition for jobs from China and India.
Some felt Gates did not address their concerns about outsourcing
and the growing number of engineers in lower-wage countries, after
he told them, "You can't go wrong in computer science."
"It is a little scary for me to see people thinking of this as a
zero-sum game," Gates said. "It is not like a war where you have
one winner and one loser. China and India are the big change
engines for the years ahead, and as we embrace that and understand
our new role in that, that's the path forward."
Not all students were impressed. "Gates sort of glossed that
over. As chairman of a corporation, does he care where he hires his
employees?" said Anatoly Smolkin, an electrical engineering and
computer science student at the university.
Jobs will move overseas and salaries for computer scientists and
engineers will fall as a result of competition with countries such
as India and China, he said.
Another student, Ali El-Annan, said Gates' comments made him a
little anxious. "I was sort of surprised. They can't really create
jobs there while leaving jobs here," he said. "There is a lot of
concern about that among students."
The US will have to compete with China and India on merit and
not through protectionism, Gates said. Universities play a major
role, in that competition and funding for universities will need to
be protected, he said. "I believe that the university system is the
number one thing that has allowed us to be at the centre of
innovation," Gates said.
Gates was interviewed on stage by Richard Newton, dean of the
Berkley's College of Engineering, and also answered questions from
students. Talking about computer science, Gates said there is
plenty of work that still needs to be done. He also pitched a
double major of computer science and biology as a ticket for a
great future career.
"If we look at the PC today, it is certainly a glass half-full
in terms of the ease of use," Gates said. Advances in storing data
and in user interfaces, such as unified storage and speech, will
make PCs better in the future. Also, artificial intelligence and
graphics are major areas of innovation, Gates said.
Looking ahead, Gates sees biology as a "sister science" to
computer science. "I think a lot of the breakthroughs will be made
by people who were trained in biology and computer science," he
said.
Gates also faced some tough questions from students about the
effect of the PC industry on the environment, and Microsoft's
anticompetitive behaviour.
"How many people in this audience might have concerns about
working for a company that has been found guilty of illegal
business practices, putting limits on choices customers can have
and misleading the public?" asked one student. The audience
remained quiet - no hands were raised.
Joris Evers writes for IDG News Service