Money certainly isn’t everything. But when you’ve worth nearly $50-billion it tends to alter prejudices. In person, Bill Gates might still be a living example of the Super Nerd - gangly, bespectacled, and hugely intelligent with only the pocket protector missing. But unlike most other geeks, when Gates talks, everybody listens. So it was last Friday evening. Such is the demand on Gates at a place like Davos, the only time he was able to squeeze in a discussion with 150 or so assorted journalists and IT executives, was at midnight. Given the pace and concentrated focus of discussions at the World Economic Forum, that’s asking a lot. Yet so rare is such an opportunity that this usually cynical school was enthralled. In the full hour and a bit of Gates’ discourse, I didn’t see a single yawn. He was relaxed and insightful. Explaining that “things evolve, you don’t wake up one day and suddenly discover it’s all different”, Gates provided insights into what overnight sensations the group’s $6-billion a year Research & Development division was working on. His conclusion: a new wave of technology is about to hit the world and “We’re very, very close now.”