Top CEOs Describe Future Technologies

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

June 10, 2005
Top CEOs Describe Future Technologies

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:34 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Too much wine with dinner? In the future, your car  
might not start if you're drunk -- and it might automatically call a  
cab, notify your spouse and even reschedule business appointments  
early the next morning. That sobering vision of things to come could  
also include the ability to read important e-mails and other vital  
messages on television, wireless telephone or computers at work and  
at home.

''The solutions just open up wide,'' says Borland Software's chief  
executive, Dale Fuller, who foresees the drunk-dealing automobile.

To Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, technology in the future promises  
better tools for sorting and managing important information -- from e- 
mails, instant messages, blogs and Web sites -- that will help  
computer users discard their digital junk.

''The world of information gets more unified,'' Ballmer said Thursday  
in an interview with The Associated Press. ''I want to be able to see  
what I need to see whether I'm on my PC or at my TV.''

Ballmer and other executives, all part of the Washington-based  
Business Software Alliance, met with congressional leaders and  
members of President Bush's Cabinet to lobby over Internet security,  
foreign trade and protections against software piracy.

They also met with AP reporters and editors for a broad-ranging  
conversation about future technologies, downloading music, keeping  
children away from online smut and general Internet safety.

Ballmer, head of the world's largest software company, said he  
worries consumers who make Internet purchases have become too  
complacent about the serious risks of financial fraud and stolen  
identity.

Ballmer said he believes a calm period without significant Internet  
attacks has lulled computer users, even older Web surfers who  
traditionally have been more anxious than teenagers about their  
online safety.

''I don't want trepidation high, but on the other hand I want people  
aware of what's going on and taking appropriate precautions,''  
Ballmer said. ''I'm afraid that may have declined, a little too much.''

The executives said parents should teach children to avoid the  
Internet's seedier neighborhoods. Ballmer said one of his sons  
carries a laptop every day to school and spends hours online  
unsupervised.

''We need to oversee and use technology and teach our children what's  
appropriate,'' Ballmer said. ''Some of it's still going to have to  
come from parents kind of teaching their kids what's right. That was  
true even before the Internet.''

Stephen Elop, chief executive at Macromedia Inc. and a father of  
five, said he uses software tools to protect his kids online. ''But I  
do not abdicate the responsibility to train my children,'' he said.  
''At the end of the day, you have to develop their character and  
trust them to respond.''

Another chief executive, John McEleney of SolidWorks Corp., urged the  
Supreme Court not to allow expanded copyright lawsuits against  
manufacturers of file-sharing software popular for stealing music and  
movies over the Internet. A decision in the case is expected in  
coming weeks.

Ballmer joked his family never downloads songs illegally.

''As I tell my three little boys, our family is going to be as holier  
than thou when it comes to copyrights as any family around because I  
have to do this kind of work,'' Ballmer said.

^------

On the Net:

Video of the AP interview is available at: http://wid.ap.org/video/ 
tech.rm

 

-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/