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Cool as a Cucumber (8/30/98)
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Both sides in the "Redmond Justice" case are gearing up for the upcoming trial. Despite the fact that a grouchy ol' appellate court ruled that his deposition should be held privately, details are trickling in about how Microsoft Head Honcho Bill Gates answered the Justice Department's pre-trial questions. Or, rather, how he didn't answer them, if CNET's sources can be trusted. Apparently it's business as usual, as Gates was-- surprise, surprise!-- as "evasive and nonresponsive" as he was when testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee last March. We've got to say, the man sure doesn't crack under pressure.
CNET's source gave one particular example of Gates' behavior: when asked whether or not he had ever actually made a statement that had been quoted in a published article, rather than answer yes or no, he declared that he'd have to see a transcript of the interview before commenting. That's very cautious behavior, and very smart; he's doing exactly what we imagine his lawyers had instructed him to do. Of course, such a great level of caution might be interpreted by some as a giant Emblem of Guilt®, but we certainly wouldn't want to see this case tried in the media, right? Regardless, the deposition lasted all day Thursday, continued on Friday, and apparently might spill over into Monday-- depending, probably, on just how evasive and nonresponsible Mr. Gates was capable of being.
So apparently Bill didn't break down in tears and confess all his anticompetitive sins, or freak out and go for the bailiff's gun or anything. In that sense, at least, we're not as disappointed that the press was barred from the deposition. If something really cool had happened, we'd be pretty upset, but if the video tapes are ever made public it sounds like all we'll see is an Ollie North-style litany of "I don't recall," etc. Hey, no one ever accused Gates of having a personality-- or of taking unnecessary risks.
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SceneLink (978)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 8/30/98 episode: August 30, 1998: Apple's "Think Different" commercial racks up yet another trophy, and this one goes by the name "Emmy." Meanwhile, the iMac launch may have been staggeringly successful, but worrisome rumors of impending supply troubles continue to loom, and Bill Gates does his best Ollie North impersonation as he dodges the DoJ's questions like a champ...
Other scenes from that episode: 976: Think Emmy (8/30/98) It's only the second year in which the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has awarded an Emmy in the category of "Best Commercial," but Apple walked away with the prize. The minute-long "Think Different" ad, created by the same TBWA Chiat/Day who gave us the legendary "1984" Macintosh commercial, can add another notch to its belt-- and this one's a pretty big notch... 977: Demand >> Supply? (8/30/98) Apple shocked a great many of us by somehow avoiding a PR debacle of biblical proportions during the iMac's launch a couple of weeks ago. Basically, just prior to the launch, rumors had been flying everywhere that, despite running its plants twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, Apple still wasn't going to have nearly enough units ready for August 15th...
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