Bill Gates met with a small group of bloggers in Redmond yesterday, and one of them, Jonathan Snook, learned that one of the fastest ways to get a rise out of the Microsoft chairman is to say that the company has often capitalized on the innovations of others.
Another attendee, Kip Kniskern of LiveSide.net, has posted a transcript of the session with Gates, including the part with Snook about innovation. (I wasn't there, but I confirmed the transcript's authenticity with a Microsoft representative.) The exchange started with Snook saying he feels Microsoft "has certainly been reactionary."
"Especially when we started the company," Gates responded, sarcastically, to laughter. "I knew that three years later, Apple would come along." He joked that he must have been reacting in advance.