I wonder if any Australians have "bandwidth"?
URL to the Electronic Telegraph <http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/>
When Bill Gates, the multi-billionaire president of Microsoft, flies
into Britain this week to shake hands with Tony Blair, it will be a
visit shrouded in secrecy to equal that afforded to any head of state.
Yet although Mr Gates - recently ranked the world's richest man - is
obsessive about security and technology, he is reputed to travel the
world in economy class.
The 41-year-old computer tycoon, whose assets are estimated at $40
billion (£25 billion), will meet
the Prime Minister in Downing Street on Tuesday to discuss Mr Blair's
scheme to install the latest computers and software in 32,000 British
schools. The meeting has been timed to steal maximum publicity from the
first day of the Tory Party conference in Blackpool.
Microsoft press officers have jealously guarded details of the reclusive
Mr Gates's itinerary, initially reluctant even to reveal any details of
where he planned to meet the Prime Minister "for security reasons". Then
the Downing Street press office provided the shock revelation that the
meeting would take place at . . . Downing Street.
Cabinet ministers such as David Blunkett, Margaret Beckett and Gordon
Brown will also be present at what is privately being regarded as a
tremendous coup for Mr Blair - who made his commitment to technology one
of the central planks of his election platform.
The Government will be using the meeting to announce an extra £100
million towards computerising classrooms by 2001: a plan which will
include free Internet connections, teacher training and subsidised
telephone bills.
The man who has been dubbed "Uber-Nerd" by American wags is thought to
have agreed to supervise Labour's scheme and advise the Government on
how to buy in bulk to minimise costs. It has not been revealed whether
Mr Gates - who has displayed philanthropic tendencies in the past - is
intending to boost Government and lottery money with a donation.
The meeting between Bill Gates and Tony Blair could be revealing, as
Gates is said to be interested only in people with "bandwidth" - that
is, people able to think more, and faster, than the "average Joe".
-- Regards brd +-------------------------+ |Bernard Robertson-Dunn | |Canberra Australia | |brd@netinfo.com.au | +-------------------------+