On 25 October 2005 Bill Gates arrives in Milan. He is the guest of honor of SMAU, the main Italian fair dedicated to operators of communication and information technologies. It passes on TV, in the programs of Paolo Bonolis and Cesara Buonamici; he gives an interview to Aldo Cazzullo for the Corriere della Sera which causes him, the following day, the attack of Beppe Grillo on his blog which at the time was a power. In all, according to the reports, his visit to Milan lasted just seven hours: arrival at 2 pm, departure for Paris at 9 pm.
Bill Gates is still briefly full-time CEO of Microsoft that day (he’ll take an unexpected step sideways nine months later), and he’s on the eve of his 50th birthday. It speaks of the future and in its future there is no idea of the imminent arrival of the smartphone (Apple’s iPhone will be launched a year and a half later). He says: “There is so much to do. The dream of the personal computer is not yet reality: the PC does not recognize speech or handwriting; the pc does not see. The computer age is just beginning… I’ve always felt like a pioneer; if the others advance, I will too. Phenomenal progress awaits us in the next ten years. We will use PCs in ways that were previously unthinkable “. Announces a new product that had not been talked about so far, the tablet-pc: “It is a kind of digital slate. It will cost less and less, and will allow students to record the teacher’s lesson without taking notes “.
To a question about the economic crisis in Italy he answers: “Crisis? But what crisis? … Many countries, not only Italy, must seize the opportunity quickly, move with great speed, change. If Milan does not do it, the rest of Italy will not. The business leaders are here, it is up to them to plan the reforms, the future. I am convinced that Italian business leaders are excellent. I have just met the men of Capitalia, I work with Telecom, with whom we are testing new technologies. And I by no means consider Italy a technologically backward country. Last year private use of broadband increased by 35%: this is a record figure, which can still be improved; I dream that in the next three or four years we will reach 50. I do not see an Italy left behind. Of course, there is a lot to do. Embrace technology, change, the new without wasting time “. For this answer, on October 25, Beppe Grillo gives him the “boccalone”, inviting everyone to write their idea to the Microsoft Italy email and give up Windows to embrace Linux.
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