In his keynote speech at theConsumer Electronics
Showin Las Vegas, Microsoft chairman, Bill
Gates, predicted that the digital world was now focusing on
connecting people. Calling this the second digital age, Gates said
this new digital world would enable internet users to access and
store data from anywhere.
To support the way the technology would evolve, Gates said
Microsoft would deliver platforms to enable people to build
applications. Gates said, "Those applications will run not only on
the PC, they will run up in the internet, or in the cloud, as we
say, on the phone, in the car, in the TV. The applications will use
the best of rich platforms and those internet services."
Gates said services could include mapping services, payment
services, friends lists, and storage services. He told attendees
that such services would change the way users use mobile devices.
"By having essentially the master of what is going on stored up in
the cloud, things like docking up, connecting, searching across
devices will be very simple, and the information, of course, can be
shared across many users in a very strong way."