Microsoft Founder Bill Gates Skypes With Students at a North Phila. High School
By Paul Kurtz
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Legendary tech entrepreneur Bill Gates held a live nationwide video chat today with a select group of computer science students. The group included more than 30 students from Carver High School for Engineering and Science, in North Philadelphia.
The Microsoft Corporation founder fielded questions from eight schools around the country, one question from each school. Carver's group focused on computer science and gender.
"What is the most effective strategy for high schools to help foster more young women to major in computer science?" asked Dafni Pratt on behalf of her classmates at Carver.
"We have to overcome those stereotypes, and we have to encourage women," Gates responded.
He also talked about the early days of Microsoft and where the industry is going today, as computers become embedded in wristwatches, TVs, eyeglasses, and who-knows-what next.
"So this (is a) whole new way of interacting with the machine, because of the richness, and now the Cloud means we're entering probably the most interesting period for software ever," Gates notes.
It all made for interesting post-conference discussion among students.
"I like how he addressed that he isn't perfect and that Microsoft did have its problems, but they overcame," said one. "I liked that because he didn't put it out there like, 'I'm this perfect guy who's rich because I'm awesome.' "
Principal Ted Domers says the school got this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity thanks to one of the school's teachers.
"He entered a contest over the summer through code.org," Domers recalls. " 'Tell us about the school, about the computer science program.' Three or four weeks ago we were notified that we were picked to be one of the schools in the conference."
