Who Needs Oprah When You Have BillG?

Today was an interesting day at Davos. I spent the morning writing in my hotel room, but in the afternoon I headed up to do a lunch panel on the brain, and then in the afternoon I attended one of the plenary sessions in the main hall on the "digital lifestyle" -- a panel featuring the CEOs of Cisco, Google, Skype, and one ex-CEO by the name of Bill Gates.

It was, as far as I can remember, a very interesting conversation. I took dutiful notes, which I will at some point share with you. After an hour, they opened the conversation to the audience, and a few hands shot up, and naturally mine was among them. Geoffrey Moore, the moderator, called on me after a few initial questions -- which was lucky enough, since the hall probably seats about 800 people -- and I grabbed the mike and introduced myself as the author of the book Everything Bad Is Good For You. (I wasn't showboating -- you're supposed to identify yourself and your company/background when you ask questions at Davos.) I mentioned that I thought it was striking that the panel hadn't mentioned games the entire session, despite the fact that games are driving much of new technology consumption habits, particularly for people under 25. And then I asked two questions, the first of which was: "Are any of you guys gamers?" The second was about games and education, and the possibility of combining the two.

I sensed that something interesting was going to happen even as I was introducing myself, because Gates nodded emphatically when I mentioned the title of the book. The moderator ran through a quick survey of the panel: only Gates happily confessed to being a gamer, though John Chambers of Cisco did say that he'd learned to fly -- playing Flight Simulator, presumably.

Then they turned to my education question. Chambers said a few enthusiastic words about gaming and education and then the focus shifted to Gates. He said something along these lines -- I can't quote directly because I think I had a mild heart attack as he was saying the words: "First of all, it's a book that should be widely read outside of just this discussion... It's kind of counter-intuitive..."

Then there was a sudden rush of interest in the title of the book, which -- predictably enough -- no one could quite get right. "Everything That Is Good Isn't So Bad After All," etc. I had to be consulted from the audience for the correct title. And then Gates returned to the issue of games and education, which he seemed to embrace as well, though by that point I had stopped taking notes.

I went to the edge of the platform after the session, and caught his eye and said -- "Bill, thanks for the plug." And he said, "Hey, it's a great book" and then kept walking off the stage. Which sounds really cool, I know, but at that point I was so hyped up that I thought he was going to say, "It's a great book -- why don't you come visit Melinda and me at our lakeside mansion for a long weekend sometime." It was almost a letdown.

Comments

[Brian]

Hi Steve,

I'm enjoying Everything Bad is Good For You, and just read the part on how DVD sales and syndication provide incentives for more complex shows. Nice! I was looking for someone on-line where you talk about this so I can link it to my site or del.icio.us bookmarks. That said, I have questions on your site:

1. Is it searchable? I don't see that option, nor does Google seem to like searching within it.

2. Your posts have categories, but I can't figure out a way to sort the posts by them.

Feel free to delete this comment, as it's not really about the post...

[Katja]

It is a great book (and it is part of my oral exam next week, we've been comparing it to a book of Manfred Spitzer "Vorsicht Bildschirm") in our class (I attend "Hochschule der Medien" in Stuttgart, Germany btw).

[Jon]

Your panel discussion doesn't seem to be available on the podcast page. This discussion is, and I presume the Q&A are in the podcast.

http://gaia.unit.net/wef/worldeconomicforum_annualmeeting2006/default.aspx

Do you have a public facing email address somewhere on this page?

[r]

A new report reveals that children today struggle with questions they could have answered 30 years ago, says Sian Griffiths

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-2014198,00.html

[mark]

Hi Steve

Just finished listening to Mind Wide Open, the audio version. Loved it. The narrator did a serviceable job, but, I have heard you speak, and suggest you do the reading for future audio books. Hey, what else would you do with all your spare time?

Thanks,
M

[Stu]

Hi Steve:

Just finished reading 'Everything Bad' - clearly-written and -argued premises. Lots of interesting bits, and I enjoyed the chats about baseball dice games. Took me back to my own versions - never got APBA or Strat-o-Matic, so relied on my own variation - quite simple, so there were very skewed results. Nevertheless, a pleasant summer's day diversion. I took two six-sided dice (borrowed from another game, and I remember that the die were a cheerful bright red and clear, with white dots on them - rolling 2 to 7 represented 'outs', 8 a 'base on balls' 9 (single) 10 (double) 11 (triple) and 12 (home run). Despite the simplicity, and the overabundance of homers and doubles, etc., I could create an entire baseball universe, if so desired. Generally, though, I'd create mini-World Series, cheering secretly behind the die for my favorite team at the time, the White Sox of the Bill Melton era, and then tabulating the statistics. Nice to go down than memory lane after so many years. At the same time, I was heavily into the Marvel Comics, too, and the growing complexity - even at that time, in the late 60s and 70s - of the Marvel Universe seems to speak to your Sleeper Curve argument. I look forward to reading your other - and future - books.

Regards,
Stu