Chief technology officer, Microsoft Corp. (last year No. 1 with
Gates and Ballmer) AGE 39 ADDRESSwww.microsoft.com BIO Myhrvold
has worked with Stephen Hawking and is both an accomplished
French and barbecue chef. As the chief cerebral cortex behind
Microsoft's Advanced Technology and Research group, Myhrvold is
one smart cookie. For this reason, we decided to pick his brain
on a more intimate scale. We caught up with him via e-mail during
his vacation in the Canadian Rockies.
TIME DIGITAL For last year's list we depicted you as Merlin the
magician. Do you feel like that is an accurate metaphor for what
you do at Microsoft?
NATHAN MYHRVOLD Judging the accuracy of analogies like this is
problematic. I'm not hundreds of years old, able to suspend
physical law at will, nor did I ever lead Bill [Gates] to a place
where he drew a sword out of a stone. But other than those
trifling details, it's not a bad analogy!
TD What are your feelings on the anti-trust case?
NM The Department of Justice seems to think that it, and the
courts more generally, should decide what new technology should
go in the product or not. Taken to an extreme limit, if this view
prevails, then Microsoft should fire me. What use is
technological innovation if we can't put it into our products? If
it is wrong to invest in research and come up with great
technology to put into a product, then how should the game be
played? This scenario might sound overly extreme; indeed, I truly
hope it is too extreme to be a credible outcome.
TD What are some of the things you and the group are working on
that may affect us in the future?
NM It is hard to single out the impact of a single topic. It's a
bit like asking mothers leaving the obstetrical ward with their
new babies, "Which of your sons or daughters will make
significant impact?" You know that statistically speaking, some
of the babies will become leaders, entertainers, doctors,
journalists, scientists, sports stars or others of note. You also
know that many won't. But trying to guess too early is fraught
with difficulties--not the least because every mother will want to
be upbeat. Research projects are similar.
TD How are you spending you vacation?
NM I have spent a bunch of time this summer digging up dinosaurs
and working on several projects in paleontology. This fall I will
go fly fishing in Mongolia. Meanwhile, I just installed a new
microprocessor-controlled attachment for my barbecue cooker that
is just amazing.
