hehehe. NICE

The audio is borked.

this was hilarious! i've never really thought gates was the real evil at microsoft (not that this video proves that since, as pointed out, it was scripted). but if i had to choose, i would rather have gates than ballmer (mr "i hurl chairs when i get bad news") any day.

It only shows that Bill is a down to earth guy who speaks his mind, unlike Jobs who's acting like he's walking two feet above all of us.

@rospaya: And that's the difference.

I'm a Mac fanboy with the pre-req altar of Jobs (I kid!), but he's always been pegged by us Mac-types and the media as being better than usual. Bill is you everyman's nerd - the kind I would have been friends with in High School.

Plus. juxtapose him with Ballmer, and what is not to like?

Also: Bono is totally off FSJ's christmas card list.

That was cute.

They really need some natural light at Microsoft though.
It's like they were in a competition to see who could look pastier and less healthy.

Regardless, it's cool that he can laugh at himself.
I'd still have lunch with the guy.

what's with the sound? It seems like it was actually bootlegged during the keynote session. I had to double-check to see if I hadn't let my headset plugged in and it was playing through that, although I wasn't wearing it...

that was really brave to star in such an address to CES))
but is this really Billie G??

HA. Who knew he had a self-deprecating sense of humor? That was pretty damn cool.

That's why everybody loves Bill Gates. Even though Microsoft is routinely called out for being evil, Mr. Gates there is still the most respected leader in business.

Look, you can bundle him up in 10 black mock-turtlenecks, stick him in the Fonz's leather jacket, and have him hang out with P. Diddy and Joe Camel...

... Bill Gates will never have a Reality Distortion Field.

The RSF - the Legendary +5 Cloak of Coolness.

lol @ the workout:)

no way is he that out of shape.

although id guess Jobs vs. Gates...
Jobs wins by KO in the first 3 sec...

They need to make Celebrity Deathmatch with the two:)

Personally, I've always liked the guy and his company. I have been a Windows user and MS products buyer for years and rarely have I ever been as disappointed as the Apple fanboys think I should be. In fact, I work in education where we primarily use eMacs and Mac Books and I fail to see what all the rabid fanboyism is all about.

Way to go Bill! Fun video and GREAT product line. If you need me i'll be in the bathroom on my Tablet PC, or if i'm not there, i'll be in the living room on my Xbox 360, or if i'm not there, i'll be at the dog park listening to my Zune watching my Presa Canario eat some trendy Apple fangirls Pomeranian. Till then...

that is super-fine

You know what helps you be at ease with your geekiness? Billions and billions of dollars.

It is always great to see these high profile business men mock themselves...

And gives us viewers a great way to start a new day.

That was a nice video to wake up to. You know the man can't take himself completely serious after the teen magazine photo shoot.

humour is humour, and that was funny. i respect a man who can joke about himself.

Who is this "Bill Gates" you speak of?

YES!! LOL

I loved this video... (passin' the link around the office)

It sounds to me like the original audio track was overlaid with live audio from a screening; the goal being to capture a laugh track. Unfortunately, the live track captures so much of the original audio (it sounds like one mic was pointed at the crowd, and the other at the PA speakers), we hear that weird hollow sound of out-of-phase frequencies canceling each other.

This issue will be addressed in Self-Effacing-Video, SP1. Vista users should upgrade their audio card.

That was a great video.

Gates is still "The Man". He knows his place in history, and in the general ziegeist of geek culture. Jobs, for all his talent and business sense, just comes across as arrogant... Perhaps Steve needs to cut his own video?

So Bono has been known as an "Apple" kinda guy...
and he owns some of Palm...
And is talking on a Nokia N95??
Was I the only one that saw that??

Great, but it looks like there was more that got cut off.

Audio track is absolutely crap and out of phase. This is what happens when amateurs play with toys. But hey, it is a "video".....

*pst* I don't know if Bill knows this, but Jon Stewart uses a Mac.

I wish that you had the rest of the video. My favorite part was when bill was trying to get back on the Daily Show. It was funny to see the clip of Bill taking off immediately after he was interviewed the last time he was on the Daily Show. The video was pretty funny. I also liked how when the video was over Bill said that the video wasn't an accurate representation. That was hilarious!

I love stuff like this, thanks Bill!

Can you post all of it? The Hilary and Obama bits were hilarious...

It's great when one of the richest and most powerful business men in the world can make a video poking fun at himself. Ya gotta love it.

That was funny!!!! the Bono parts were the best. although it did remind me a little too much of one of those Oscars tribute films.

Ya know, it's too bad that the rest of Microsoft hadn't yet figured a similar identity to this video. I mean, before, especially in a Connie Chung-Bill Gates interview almost a decade ago, I remember an uptight and very impersonal Bill Gates (Even though it also showed him enjoying a Wendy's hamburger in a Redmond Mall and signing stuff for MS fans unexpectedly.)

I would imagine that if Microsoft were to rebrand itself, it would be similar to this video (oddly enough...)

That, and the text clutter on their packages kill me in the same way that news channels clutter their screens with tickers everywhere.

I really really want to watch this but the audio is so horrible it hurts my head.

@kaneshadow: Exactly what I was thinking. Also, nothing like billions of billions of dollars to hire a PR firm to make you look personable and "down to earth".

FWIW, I'm a MS user who finally just configured his WinXP MCE to his liking.

Agreed, where's the rest of the video? I didn't think the audio was THAT bad.. turn it down a bit and you're fine.

Where's the end?!?!?

I am jealous

I would love to see the rest. Great way to improve his image and the image of MS. A good laugh indeed.

BTW aren't JayZ, Bono, and Spielberg all in bed with Apple?

@jibbly:

Actually, I believe the guy IS personable and down to earth. Just doesnt get the chance, or have the need, to show that side to the public.

Billionaires are weird.

It's funny, but didn't Clinton already do this?
[politicalhumor.about.com]

That is funny.

@citizen024: Gates was in Celebrity Death Match, although oddly enough against Michael Flatley.

Arrgh, it's only part of it and cuts off mid-sentence with Jon Stewart. Gizmodooooooo!

AHahha, Bill is cool.

Here's the complete video: [www.tweakvista.com]

Very very funny. It was more than I expected.

Big pimpin, cause he KNOWS he blends.

PS- Never doubt the magic of software..........

I think they overlaid it with audio from the convention to show us where people laughed.

I thought his Executive Assistant was HOT!

@ooinseattle: Haha... I forgot all about that.

With $42 billion, anyone can hang out with the cool kids.

Pantloads of credit to Gates for his sense of humor. And that's coming from an long-time Mac fan.

But can we ease off the Bill's-a-swell-guy noise a bit? The dark side of his (and MS's) reputation didn't just APPEAR out of nowhere.

This sort of seems like all the great press Nixon got when he died.

During the first half of the clip, I was reminded of The Office, where you see the employees talking to the camera, and then go on to shots of something funny happening. Heh.

I agree that this video doesn't make the cut-throat practices Microsoft followed any less cut-throat. Bill's cool? Maybe, but mostly money talks.

All I hear is a bunch of clicks and pops; browsing with safari 3... Visually, it looks sort of funny though.

Yeah, that audio was totally off-track. I went to YouTube instead, even though it was a video of a video. That was pretty funny. I had to contain my laughter at work.

found it here: [youtube.com]

Nice video, took away a little of that ultra-boss feeling about Gates.

This is only like half of the video.

AWESOME!