What should exist? To me, that's the most exciting question imaginable. What do we need that we don't have? How can we realize our potential?

You've got to enjoy time with your family and friends, and if you're involved in sports franchises, those peak moments in playoff games. You have to enjoy life.

The best museums and museum exhibits about science or technology give you the feeling that, hey, this is interesting, but maybe I could do something here, too.

Even before I helped to co-found Microsoft, I saw a connected future . . . I called that future The Wired World.

I grew up around books. When I first held the book and it was a substantive, tangible thing, and I thought of all the work that went into it, not just my work but everybody else's and the research and so forth, there's a sense of really have done something worthwhile.

Technology is notorious for engrossing people so much that they don't always focus on balance and enjoy life at the same time.

In the computer industry, you've got an interdisciplinary team of people who can come together, attack the problem, and work in a collaborative style. You knock down one problem after another, cobble things together, and then hopefully turn the crank at some point.