Hey, that's Bill Gates!

For those not paying attention previously, I'm at Covergence, Microsoft's ERP and CRM annual conference. Bill Gates just finished his keynote. I didn't live blog the keynote because my seat was too tight to pull out the laptop.

Other people will cover the specifics, you should be able to get the whole speech off the web. I wanted to give a few impressions. I've never seen Bill live, but I've heard him speak remotely so I had an idea what to expect. He was pretty heavily scripted but some of the new devices he showed off really got oohs and aahs from the crowd. Things like a touchscreen big screen with web parts, huge, very cool, desktop monitors and a table that functions as an extened screen and interface for a mobile device. Toys create buzz, even for accountants.

We did see that some of the desktop parts coming to Windows Vista will include financial parts tied to Dynamics. So you can have maybe, sales data, live on your destop in a little window without having Dynamics running.

I hoping for a little more of the real Bill during the Q&A. We got a little and it was bit odd. He talked about his daughter's desire for a bunny and how they used the web to steer her away from a bunny and to a better "Pet Experience". I'm not sure if he was trying to be funny but but it freaked out a few people near me. Kids have pets, not "Pet Experiences". Parents have "Pet Experiences" when the dog throws up on the bed but I don't think that's what Bill was going for. It did come out in some other anecdotes, that his kids humble him. Kids seem to have that effect, as do pets.

All in all I think we got a speech in the new trend of talking to a broader audience not just the one in front of you.