The first speaker at the Wall Street Journal conference this week was Bill Gates. Despite being the dinner entertainment, Gates was surprisingly relaxed and open about the directions in which Microsoft is headed. He spoke a fair bit about the Microsoft technology de jour, including .net (web services) and the Tablet PC, both of which he predicted would be central to doing business in the near future. Gates didn't overly hype his stuff — he was an effective low key pitch man.

One of the main technology themes of the conference was the coming ubiquity of WiFi. Gates agreed that WiFi would soon be available in every home, hotel and airport. So much so that Gates said Microsoft is designing its products assuming connectivity. Microsoft is also betting on mesh networks — Gates believes that by spreading WiFi backhaul among large numbers of clients, WiFi will facilitate broadband for everyone that may serve to replace cellular networks under many circumstances. Gates predicts mesh networks will be mainstream in the next 5 years and he's presumably already looking to build software to address the problems associated with the multiplicity of base stations.

While I have a hard time seeing the mass market for Tablet PCs, I would not be one to quickly bet against Microsoft. And not just because of the incredibly size and market power Microsoft holds. But because of Bill Gates. He remains a powerful spokesman for the continued vibrance of technology.