Mr. Apple and Mr. Microsoft Faceoff!

Ok, first story, let's go!

I first heard about this on CNET.com's Buzz Out Loud Podcast (Episode 481) and also read about it in a MarketWatch.com article via Digg.  Apparently two of the most legendary icons in the consumer tech industry, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, will have a 75 minute moderated conversation for all the world to see.  This will occur at the "D: All Things Digital" Wall Street Journal conference in California from the 29th to the 31st of May.  Based on the agenda from the conference website, the most likely time for this event will be 6PM on the 30th, during the "Dinner and Special Event." 

Personally I'm pretty interested in this meeting.  Gates and Jobs have only had a few public meetings over the years and while pictures on the web indicate that they can have a friendly dinner like any two guys, their companies couldn't be more different.  Microsoft Windows and Office are the dominant forces in personal computing.  Its new verson of Windows, "Vista," has yet to take off, though, as many users are having problems meeting the hardware requirements or simply don't see why they should upgrade.  Mac OS X gives users a different user interface and is rapidly becoming interoperable with most mainstream software makers (games excluded unfortunately).  On the flip side, Apple has taken over the music player industry with the iPod and the iTunes Store.  Soon they will be releasing the iPhone, which may not have the same effect on the phone industry as the iPod did the music industry, but nevertheless will further extend Apple's reach into non-PC sectors.  Microsoft has "responded" to Apple's move into music and video players by creating the Zune.  Similar to the iPod, the Zune has not reached any sort of market dominance because the player's functions and services do not meet the expectations of many users.

Will Jobs and Gates show their rivalry on the inverview floor?  Probably not...they are always very professional at public keynotes.  Hopefully, though, the first thing these two tech icons say will be:
Jobs: Hi, I'm a Mac...
Gates: ...and I'm a PC.

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