CEO says yes to talking computers

Microsoft's chief outlines 'amazing' innovations in future

That's according to Steven Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp.

"Finally, you'll be able to talk to your computer," Ballmer told about 600 members of Utah's technology community Friday. He said the advancements to come are even more "amazing" than the proliferation of personal computers over the past 10 years, cell phones and the Internet.

Speaking at the Utah Technology Council's eighth-annual Hall of Fame Celebration in the Little America Hotel, Ballmer spoke on just a few of the innovations he sees.

In the future, Ballmer envisions computers that will be able to respond to requests and conduct research and find information for users. And, he said, it will be easier to access and exchange information, from notes to research, in real-time multimedia formats.

"The information revolution is really unique," he said. "Let's take advantage of this unique opportunity to really positively impact the world."

Ballmer acknowledged a shortage of those pursuing computer science as "a big challenge in front of our industry," saying it's important to encourage people at younger ages to go into technology. He did point to a positive angle, however, saying people in other applied sciences are looking at computer technology.

Friday's induction honored Holladay entrepreneur Dinesh Patel and Jim Kajiya, director of Microsoft Research. It was the first induction since the Utah Information Technology Association and the Utah Life Science Association merged, forming the Utah Technology Council.

Todd Stevens, chairman of the selection committee, said nominees must have a Utah tie and inductees are selected based on their "global impact, in either information technology or the life science field."

Kajiya is a leading developer in 3-D animation, and Patel is known nationally as a leader in technology that allows medicine to be administered via skin patches, Stevens said.

About the inductees:

• Dinesh Patel, widely considered the father of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals in the Mountain West, is an entrepreneur who holds 15 U.S. patents and foreign counterparts. He is a founding partner in vSpring Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm that targets information technology and life sciences companies head- quartered in the Intermountain West.

• Jim Kajiya received a doctorate in computer science from the University of Utah in 1979. He was the principal architect of Talisman, a low-cost hardware architecture for very high-quality real-time 3-D graphics. He received an Academy Award technical certificate for his work on digitally rendering hair and fur.

E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com

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