Bill Gates deposition videos

As if lacking social skills and losing his mind aren’t enough, Bill Gates can now be haunted by video of his past. The videos allow you to see a weasel CEO at his finest. I have not heard stuff of this caliber since Bill Clinton decided to debate the definition of “is”.

Gates may not quite be up to Clinton’s game, but he’s got enough heat in his pitches to really throw you for a loop. Almost as if he’s a AAA pitcher taking on a lesser challenge, “concerned” is the word of choice. As a wordsmith, I clearly have no trouble grasping the definitions of words. CEOs, on the other hand, sometimes need a hand.

Read the excerpt from the videos below to find out the resolution.

[via Wincent Colaiuta]

Boies: Okay. Now, let me go on to another paragraph and see whether you remember writing that or not. And that is the second paragraph, which reads, “Apparently a lot of OEMs are bundling non-Microsoft browsers and coming up with offerings together with Internet Service providers that get displayed on their machines in a FAR” and you’ve capitalized each of the letters in far “more prominent way than MSN or our Internet browser.” Do you see that?

Gates: Uh-huh.

Boies: Did you write that sentence, Mr. Gates?

Gates: I don’t remember, but I have no reason to doubt that I did.

Boies: Do you remember what you were thinking when you wrote that sentence or what you meant when you wrote that sentence?

Gates: No.

Boies: Do you remember that in January, 1996, a lot of OEMs were bundling non-Microsoft browsers?

Gates: I’m not sure.

Boies: What were the non-Microsoft browsers that you were concerned about in January of 1996?

Gates: What’s the question? You’re trying to get me to recall what other browsers I was thinking about when I wrote that sentence?

Boies: No, because you’ve told me that you don’t know what you were thinking about when you wrote that sentence.

Gates: Right.

Boies: What I’m trying to do is get you to tell me what non-Microsoft browsers you were concerned about in January of 1996. If it had been only one, I probably would have used the name of it. Instead I seem to be using the term non-Microsoft browsers. My question is what non-Microsoft browsers were you concerned about in January of 1996?

Gates: I’m sure — what’s the question? Is it — are you asking me about when I wrote this e-mail or what are you asking me about?

Boies: I’m asking you about January of 1996.

Gates: That month?

Boies: Yes, sir.

Gates: And what about it?

Boies: What non-Microsoft browsers were you concerned about in January of 1996?

Gates: I don’t know what you mean “concerned.”

Boies: What is it about the word “concerned” that you don’t understand?

Gates: I’m not sure what you mean by it.

Boies: Is-

Gates: Is there a document where I use that term?

Boies: Is the term “concerned” a term that you’re familiar with in the English language?

Gates: Yes.

Boies: Does it have a meaning that you’re familiar with?

Gates: Yes.

Boies: Using the word “concerned” — consistent with the normal meaning that it has in the English language, what Microsoft — or what non-Microsoft browsers were you concerned about in January of 1996?

Gates: Well, I think I would have been concerned about Internet Explorer, what was going on with it.