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Wired Interviews Bill Gates 1996

Kevin Kelly · interview · Watch on YouTube

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What it is

Unreleased 1996 footage of the Wired editors interviewing Bill Gates when he visited their office. Gates talks about software, the internet and Microsoft's thinking at the time. The video is about 53 minutes long.

Why Hacker News recommends it

People recommend it as a rare, unpolished look at Gates's mid-90s thinking, including predictions that aged well and badly.

  • 3 people recommended it
  • 3 different months
  • 1 strong recommendations
  • first 2020, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “I strongly recommend watching the impromptu interview Bill Gates gave back in the 90s while visiting the Wired office”

    Gates' 1990s thinking, including predictions that aged badly

    pengaru, 2020-08 · Strong recommendation · in “Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media”

  2. “provides an insight into the structured thinking at Microsoft/Gates even back in 1996”

    Shows structured thinking at Microsoft and Gates in 1996

    sramam, 2020-10 · Recommendation · in “How Satya Nadella turned Microsoft around”

  3. “a long but interesting interview”

    Gates describing software products as subscriptions in 1996

    antaviana, 2025-02 · Recommendation · in “20 years working on the same software product”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: bill gates, microsoft, wired, tech history, 1996

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