the Onda

Am at the WSJ's D-conference for the week. This thing is like candy for the brain. Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher (the WSJ tech-heads) riffle through their A-list rolodexes and pack the house with some pretty incredible folks. Then they get them (and 400 odd others) into a swank Four Seasons resort... and manage to make the whole thing feel cozy despite the fact that the riff-raff is allowed (even encouraged) to mix with the royalty. The most striking thing about it is that the speakers are packed chock-a-block. This allows them to riff off each other in a way that we never ever get to see in the mediasphere.

Which brings me to realization #1 while at this plush conference: these guys really each other. Doc Searls has written about the way the tech media portrays the news as "vendor sports" so as to make it more entertaining. Nowhere is that more true than in the Microsoft vs. Apple (Bill vs. Steve) rivalry. It's the Montagues vs. Capulets of our times.

Except of course that for guys who are really supposed to hate each other, they do seem to be having a good time:

The third guy in the picture is Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus-123, co-founder of the EFF and recent founder of OSAF.

I caught a bit of their conversation due to the fact that I had been engaged with Steve on a work related conversation (or more like talking-to but I can't write about that here). Anyway, right after he stormed off, he happened to run into Bill and Mitch who were talking right before sitting for dinner. Soon enough, the three of them were laughing and talking about their common past.

It's great to see. These guys (and others like them) gave birth to the personal computer industry. Now they get to come to conferences where the business that they kicked off in garages and strip-mall offices has swallowed all of computing and is in the process of swallowing the consumer electronics industry as well. What a kick that must be!

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