

The Microsoft Provocateur (1997) - jamesash
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/05/12/the-microsoft-provocateur

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jpatokal
> _Myhrvold then turned to what he called “the truly personal
> computer—something which has the size and weight appropriate to be carried
> with you at all times.” This wireless “digital wallet,” as he called it,
> would allow anyone to communicate, untethered to a wire, by voice, video,
> fax, E-mail, or pager. The device would be a clock, an alarm, a schedule
> manager, a notepad, an archive of phone numbers and records, and a library
> of music and books. The digital signature produced by this wallet would have
> a personal I.D. for security, and could replace cash, credit cards, checks,
> and keys. He believed that the obstacles were economic and human, not
> technological. “The cost will not be very high—it is pretty easy to imagine
> a total cost of manufacture in the range of $100 to $250 on introduction,
> which means $400 to $1000 retail price,” he wrote._

Well, it probably took a bit longer than expected, but that pretty much
describes the smartphone and where it's headed.

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keeganpoppen
i find it a bit laughable / disappointing that they don't even refer to Alan
Kay by name-- "a former Apple programmer"\-- as though somehow Myhrvold is
more important to ... anything ... than Alan Kay has been to computing. The
only reason Microsoft even exists is because they ripped off Alan Kay and his
colleagues at Xerox PARC (well, arguably Apple too, but bill gates himself
thought of it more as "stealing the rich neighbor's tv set [before Apple
did]").

does anyone else get a weird sense of cognitive dissonance when reading stuff
about Nathan Mhyrvold? by all accounts he seems like an extremely capable and
insightful person, but at the same time i find his mercenary tactics (see:
Microsoft, Intellectual Ventures) extremely discomfiting-- like he is some
sort of sith lord not to be trusted or something.

------
norswap
of
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Ventures](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Ventures)
fame.

A person of disreputable morality indeed.

~~~
FreakyT
Let's not forget his $500 cookbook! [1]

[1]: [http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cuisine-The-Science-
Cooking/...](http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cuisine-The-Science-
Cooking/dp/0982761007)

~~~
srott
And the mosquito laser

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser)

~~~
jessaustin
Why did I hear the tune from "Skullcrusher Mountain" when I read that? SDI,
really? You know that Myhrvold [0] has henchmen, who do in fact think he's
crazy.

[0] OMG: spellchecker suggests "Voldemort"! We're not worthy!

