Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

we all know that Bill Gates is focusing on his Foundation, which, though heavily labelled as a charity fund, is keen on biotech. however, Microsoft has been mostly focused on the software zone (although they do have hardware products like the X-box, mice, keyboards, etc.) and now the web. as i mentioned in my previous post, don't focus on the web, Microsoft! you already lost because you couldn't dominate it. instead, turn your attention to another area that few people really care about at this moment: space exploration. yes, Microsoft doing space travel. why? they have the money and engineering staff. okay, so more than likely most people there are software people. however, why can't Microsoft put more energy into developing tools to simplify engineering practices? if VB6 was businesses' prayer from God in the 80's to rapidly building applications, there must be some methodology to once again simplify all the nutty calculations for math, chemistry, physics and engineering principles for handling areas like propulsion, materials, construction, etc. if i want to build a space ship, why have a human calculate all the scientific principles when a computer can generate these things in a single instance AND in a correct manner? one reason why M$ lost the web was because of things like open source and scripting languages. these elements simplified application building processes where kids were picking and developing massive applications without having to worry about the bureaucratic nonsense of the software lifecycle or the obscure idiosynchrocies that Visual C++ might present. this meant people were liberated from a single, stratified area of development and were free to pick from the best tools. engineering, especially aerospace, etc. on the other hand, isn't so simple. or in the form we know it. we need that layer like HTML, javascript, and scripting languages which aren't difficult to learn yet present the ability for easy, safe design. a kid should be able to draw a plane that'll fly and have his design instantly created. this is what made the web so successful. obviously, with manufacturing the traditional methods have presented tons of barriers, not to mention the start up cost because of the materials involved. but take the model i've presented and add something like a machine that creates blocks from nanotechnology and spits out something that assembles into a working prototype. if we had tools that were as advanced as this concept, we wouldn't have to depend on old, sluggish methods along with the complexities of all the sciences necessary to produce high quality engineered products. this is an area that i think Microsoft would be better suited. Apple has or is conquering the lifestyle area. Google has covered the web. Microsoft can dominate nano and/or aerospace.