It seems Bill Gates is less excited about the social impact of the web and more excited about the user's direct interface experience with technology.

This article also gives a fascinating insight into what are considered issues worthy of his attention within his own corporation.

For Gates, the next revolution is not in the content of websites but the way we physically interact with computers, with keyboard and mouse giving way to speech, touch and mobility.

"The pace of innovation over these next 10 years will be much faster than what we have seen in the past," he said. Innovations on display at the grandly named Brussels Microsoft Executive Briefing Centre include a mirror which can remember and display people who have looked in it, computers capable of examining and telling the difference between objects, and a smart surface on which documents, maps and videos can be manipulated by hand gestures.

"I'm just sitting here, pulling up the information, showing it to people, and there's no paperwork, there's no old information," enthused Gates. "I'm able to access all that information just through these hand gestures. Every desk, every meeting room table, will have that technology in it, you'll just take it for granted."
full story from M&G here