HackerTube.dev

Wired Interviews Bill Gates 1996

Kevin Kelly · 61.5K views · 2018-10-09 · 52:31

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

Unreleased 1996 footage of the Wired editors interviewing Bill Gates when he visited their office. Gates talks about software, the internet and Microsoft's thinking at the time. The video is about 53 minutes long.

On Hacker News

People recommend it as a rare, unpolished look at Gates's mid-90s thinking, including predictions that aged well and badly.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2020–2025

Topics

Search by tags

What people said

pengaru · 2020-08 · Strong recommendation

I strongly recommend watching the impromptu interview Bill Gates gave back in the 90s while visiting the Wired office, for gaining some valuable perspective on his thinking, and how comically wrong he's been before. My internet is too flaky here at the moment to verify, but I believe this is the URL: [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
antaviana · 2025-02 · Recommendation

I believe it is in this interview from 1996 where I saw Bill Gates saying the same thing about Microsoft products, he saw them as subscriptions. It’s a long but interesting interview. [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
sramam · 2020-10 · Recommendation

This. This [1] wired interview provides an insight into the structured thinking at Microsoft/Gates even back in 1996. I'm sure this kind of thinking permeates any successful company, to have a video of this depth, and now available for public viewing, is really unique. [1] [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by Kevin Kelly, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources