Bill Gates on Robotics

Bill Gates gives his vision of the future of robotics here. He compares the current robotics industry to the computer industry of the 1970s, discusses the challenges faced. Overall, it is a worthy read.

I have great respect for Microsoft, I do believe it is an exciting place to work for. I agree that some of its business practices have been highly questionable, but every organization in the world is like that, trying to dominate in their own fields by whatever tactical means possible.

It would be great if Microsoft focuses on some niche fields like robotics and try become a leading authority in it. It has to do a lot of catchup with Google in the online services, so there is a great need for it to be a market leader in a new field. Robotics and AI give the perfect opportunity to do so.

Microsoft VP's Interview in rediff

Makes a good read
I especially liked the points he made about what needs to be done to make India a leader.

What India should do to be a leader

One problem area, according to me is that people get to be project managers too soon. After that, it is very hard to be technically focused. So, we struggle to figure out R&D experts in the middle and senior level. That is one area we have to focus on as an industry and figure out how we can nurture technically strong people.

I am also not sure about the quality of students across India. Whatever we can do to improve the quality of the students will be fantastic.

Think about it, isn't it true that we have very few universities of sustained excellence while most of them exist just to make up the count.