Bill Gates returns to Microsoft - just to talk

Mary Bruno

Mary Bruno Jul 5, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Bill Gates returns to Microsoft - just to talk </h1>
                <h2><p>In a rare return to his roots, Bill Gates was in Redmond this morning to speak at Microsoft’s Research Faculty Summit. His topic: “Innovation and Opportunity: The Contribution of Computing to Improving Our World.” The speech from Gates, still the Microsoft chairman, comes in the immediate aftermath of his</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/mary-bruno-crosscut-com/">Mary Bruno</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>In a rare return to his roots, Bill Gates was in Redmond this morning to speak at Microsoft’s Research Faculty Summit. His topic: “Innovation and Opportunity: The Contribution of Computing to Improving Our World.” The speech from Gates, still the Microsoft chairman, comes in the immediate aftermath of his alma mater’s massive corporate re-org, unveiled last week by his CEO successor Steve Ballmer. Ever respectful, Bill was mum about the new structural and personnel changes. But he did make one prediction: Microsoft Bob will be back. Bob, a kind of proto-Siri, wa a little cartoon guide, introduced by Gates in 1995, who was supposed to help users navigate the many shoals of Windows. Bob turned out to be a bust, not to mention the butt of countless industry jokes. But Gates still believes in the concept. We were simply, he said, "ahead of our time."</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="http://crosscut.com/media/story_image/Blake_Beavan_Seattle_Mariners.jpg" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy"></figure>
          </article>

In a rare return to his roots, Bill Gates was in Redmond this morning to speak at Microsoft’s Research Faculty Summit. His topic: “Innovation and Opportunity: The Contribution of Computing to Improving Our World.” The speech from Gates, still the Microsoft chairman, comes in the immediate aftermath of his alma mater’s massive corporate re-org, unveiled last week by his CEO successor Steve Ballmer. Ever respectful, Bill was mum about the new structural and personnel changes. But he did make one prediction: Microsoft Bob will be back. Bob, a kind of proto-Siri, wa a little cartoon guide, introduced by Gates in 1995, who was supposed to help users navigate the many shoals of Windows. Bob turned out to be a bust, not to mention the butt of countless industry jokes. But Gates still believes in the concept. We were simply, he said, "ahead of our time."

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By Mary Bruno

Mary was Crosscut's Editor-in-Chief and Interim Publisher. In more than 25 years as a journalist, she has worked as a writer, editor and editorial director for a variety of print and web publications,