Linda Stone is director of advanced technology and research at Microsoft,
and heads up Microsoft's virtual worlds group, which focuses on building
multi-user, multimedia social environments.
Educom Review: Before you joined Microsoft you were at Apple. What did you
do at Apple?
Stone: I was at Apple for about seven and a half years, and most of my work
was focused on supporting the hypercard and multimedia developer
communities and on working to understand what infrastructure we needed to
create for multimedia and multimedia-related businesses to take off. I did
that for a number of years starting in the mid-eighties, and by the end of
my tenure at Apple I was working out of the Office of the Chairman, Mr.
Sculley. In my last months at Apple I was thinking about moving on, because
I had been there for a long time and was ready for a little bit of a
change. One day Nathan Myhrvold, who is head of Advanced Technology and
Research at Microsoft, approached me at a conference, and asked me,
"Wouldn't you like to move back to Seattle?" Seattle was where I had gone
to both undergraduate and graduate school, and I had lived in Seattle for
many years prior to moving down to the Bay Area. I was really torn between
going in the direction of a media company - doing work directly related to
media and bringing some technology sensibility to a media company - versus
staying on the technology side and bringing some media sensibility to
another technology company. I took a break from Apple; I took a few months
off and vacationed and relaxed. Nathan was extremely compelling and I wound
up visiting Microsoft. Eventually, I wound up coming up to Microsoft in
December of '93, initially as a director of special projects under Nathan.
E.R.: What kinds of special projects?
Stone: Well, one of the things I did was to work with some of Nathan's
managers and some of those folks across the organization who were looking
at the way that technology and media will work together and play together
in this next decade. And during the course of this time one of the things
that became clear to me - this was at the end of '93, early '94 - was that
people were primarily thinking about highly produced, highly packaged media
and information that could be broadcast down to people who, with a credit
card transaction, could purchase this or make a choice to see that. It was
a model that was very asymmetrical. There was a lot of downstream activity,
and very little upstream; it was really very much a broadcast model. And
being a big fan of the telephone - the one piece of technology in my life
that I would be hard-pressed to do without - I started saying: "You know,
we are missing the boat on something. Looking at this highly packaged,
highly produced information is fine, but I think we also need to look at
what would happen if we had symmetrical communication. What would happen if
we had reasonable downstream and reasonable upstream? What would happen if
we had media that was less packaged - if we looked at communication and
what networks would facilitate as a way of allowing people to communicate
with one another?"
E.R.: With the telephone as a model?
Stone: I think so. That's what happens on the telephone and it's very
compelling. In fact, it's very big business! And, thinking about all this,
one of the things that came to mind was the way people are always talking
about how "content is king." And here I was talking about communication,
which often has a lot of bad content, yet is very compelling. You may
remember only a few things from the course of your conversations during a
day, but still there is something satisfying about having gone through the
process of communicating and understanding and experiencing. So I got
Nathan's approval to start a group that would work on things that were less
packaged and more about communication. I decided that the best way to
approach this at that time would be using the notion of "virtual world,"
which we could use to create venues for communication. Because we were
looking at the multimedia nature of virtual worlds, we would be able to
work with some of the great graphics folks that Nathan has recruited in the
last few years who are really interested in some of the problems that we
need to solve in order to create a virtual world; and that we would end up
bringing together technology, sociology, art and design in order to pull
off what we were trying to do - that it was going to be interdisciplinary
in nature - to really understand the challenge here.
E.R.: So how did the group get going?
Stone: Before I made an actual proposal to Nathan to start a group, he
said, "You know, I got this really strange paper from a guy over in the
Developer Tools Division," and he shared that paper with me. Soon after
that I sat down and met with the author, Manny Vellon, who is a first-rate
technical person who had been at Microsoft for about nine years, and we
developed immediate rapport with one another, so we decided to pitch
getting a small group going. And at that point I went back went to Nathan
and I said, "Okay, you have a choice. You can either have this group run
and managed by someone like me, who is more of a generalist, or someone
like this developer, who is very technical." Of course, most of the people
in management at Microsoft are extremely technical. Nathan said, "I think
we'll end up with a completely different product if you are the person
running this group, so I want you to run it." And so it ended up that Manny
and I co-founded this group but I run it and I have done the lion's share
of recruiting for it. We have a few Ph.D.s who add research sensibility and
are sort of über-architects, a number of people who are seasoned industry
people (10 or 12 years experience), a number of developers, some who are
more junior and enthusiastic about cranking out code and working in this
domain space. We also have a creative team composed of artists, architects,
animators, UI designers and programmers. It's a really interdisciplinary
group and we are approaching problems that are very interdisciplinary in
nature.
E.R.: Give some examples.
Stone: What is it that can serve as a substrate for meaningful
conversation, connection and community online? What is it that can enhance
human communication? How will people wind up developing status and
reputation online? What about presentation of self online? This all turns
out to be a mix of technology, sociology and design. For example, one of
the things that we think about is how, during the '80s, the computer served
as an information prosthesis, and how, in the '90s, on the Net, the
computer is also becoming a prosthesis of being - for it is through the
computer that we will express who we are, become known to others. Consider,
how at this point, many relationships are now mediated by the computer
through e-mail or news groups or chats or online conferencing or whatever.
It is through the computer that we earn status and reputation and express
age-old human issues of individuation and integration. How am I myself? How
am I unique and how am I a part of a larger group or community? People
increasingly are living on the Net, and that's where a lot of their
communication, for work or for play, is based.
E.R.: You say work or play. Have you given much thought to interaction
among students in a learning environment?
Stone: Sure. I spent the first 10 years of my career as an educator.
E.R.: Doing what?
Stone: Initially, I worked in K-6. Over the years, I taught emotionally
disturbed and disabled children, gifted children, and then, grades 1 and 2.
I spent a few years working as a children's librarian. Then, when I was
doing graduate work at the University of Washington -
E.R.: In education?
Stone: I combined Curriculum and Instruction, Cognitive Psychology, and
Librarianship. I was always interested in issues related to how people
learn, communication, creativity and intelligence. Through grad school, I
worked as a lecturer at the University of Washington, where I taught
computer-related classes in the School of Librarianship and in the College
of Education. I was involved in the programs at the University that helped
educators in the early '80s get their feet wet with technology. In 1986, I
left Seattle and headed to Apple.
E.R.: Have you found much of a culture shift between Apple and Microsoft?
Or is there an identical culture there?
Stone: In some ways they are very different culturally and in some ways
they are very similar. Something that I find interesting is the contrast in
the way the mission statements of the two companies are framed. The mission
statement of Microsoft calls for "a computer on every desk and in every
home running Microsoft software" a very tangible mission statement that has
led to very tangible results - dollars. At Apple, the mission statement is
about empowering the individual, the power to be your best - a much more
ethereal mission statement and one that has led to less tangible, though,
nonetheless valuable results. It's led to customer loyalty and personal
satisfaction among the people who use the products.
E.R.: Well, what is the mission statement for your own group then?
Stone: The mission statement for my group is to provide must-have
technology that enables compelling people-to-people social interaction and
leverages multimedia capabilities.
E.R.: Well, that's a compelling statement. So, is Nathan Myhrvold happy to
have given the project to a generalist?
Stone: We're very productive and we're having a lot of fun.
E.R.: And, apart from you, do generalists thrive in management in Microsoft?
Stone: I think as a rule most of the managers at Microsoft are very strong
technical folks, and I think that in most of the organizations that
probably makes a lot of sense. In my organization, I'm a generalist and I
do guide the direction of the organization. My development manager leads
the charge technically, and educates me about key issues. I push back when
something doesn't feel quite right. I have a strong, collaborative
management team.
E.R.: One more cultural question. Is being a woman a handicap these days in
information technology?
Stone: Not at Microsoft. There's a tremendous amount of management support.
I can't imagine feeling more supported by my bosses, Rick Rashid, VP of
Advanced Technology and Research and also Nathan, who is now CTO and a
Group Vice President. They have been fantastic.
E.R.: As you know, Microsoft takes a lot of criticism from people; for
instance, the Dilbert cartoon this morning made fun of Microsoft as some
kind of ravenous giant that is bent on assimilating the entire world. What
do you think of that kind of attack?
Stone: I think that because Microsoft is off in Seattle, in a corner of the
country, away from Silicon Valley, there's a little bit of an air of
mystery about it. But when people actually come to visit Microsoft they
tend to see it in a very different light, because what they see are a lot
of smart people who are working hard and who are committed to excellence.
While I was at Apple, I got to know Douglas Adams, the science fiction
writer. When I told Douglas I was going to go Microsoft, he put his face in
his hands and poured a beer and said, "I can't believe you would do such a
thing! I can't believe you would do this!" I told him, "Well, if I start
behaving strangely, or act as though I've been brainwashed, bring a
straitjacket up there and take me away."
When I got to Microsoft, I felt a bit like an alien and Douglas and I had a
fairly humorous e-mail exchange. After a few months, as I adjusted and got
my group off the ground, I wrote, "You really need to come and visit . . .
check this place out for yourself." It took two years of arm-twisting but
he finally arrived at Microsoft. We showed him some of what was going on
across the advanced technology organization. Over dinner he looked at me
and said, "This is fantastic. This is really an extraordinary gathering of
bright people and exciting projects." I think when people actually come in
they're surprised at the creativity and resilience of the people here.
People at Microsoft make mistakes, but they pick themselves up and they
keep going! I've been places where that's not been the case - where there's
a competitive threat and people just sort of stop like rabbits in the road
and sigh, "What are we going to do?" as the car comes straight for them.
Microsoft would never stop in its tracks. That's just not in the
personality of the CEO, and the personality of the CEO is what really
guides the company. Gates is one of the most focused, persistent, driven
and brilliant people that you could ever encounter. He is always moving
forward. I think that kind of relentlessness has got to be exhausting to
competitors. Many successful companies wind up being the target of humor.
That goes with the honor of being in a strong position.
E.R.: Gates certainly did not freeze like a rabbit when he realized the
importance of the Internet.
Stone: That was really an extraordinary experience - to be at the company
when that was all happening. When we started our group, we wanted an
Internet tap for our offices because we wanted to be able to track things
that were going on in our area. We were told there was no way that we could
get Internet tap, because that would be a breach of the firewall that would
not be tolerated. We persisted anyway - because that's what you do as a
Microsoft employee, you persist! We continued along the way to try to jump
through all the hoops that they tried to set up for us. Finally we were
told we had to have a separate office, we couldn't be connected to our
network at all. We went about arranging this. Then the memo came out about
Microsoft's Internet strategy and what everyone in the company was expected
to do. It was like going from winter to summer overnight. Suddenly
everybody had Internet tap. Everybody was presenting to Bill how their
products were going to embrace and extend the Internet. It didn't matter if
you were in the PowerPoint group or the Word group or the Windows95 group,
you were figuring out how the Internet affected your life and your product.
It all happened very quickly. It was really extraordinary.
E.R.: On the subject of Internet strategies, the Wall Street Journal the
other day enumerated all the current failures that have overcome people in
attempts to make money from Web sites. One after the other business seems
to be either giving up or wearing down. What is the problem? What's going
on?
Stone: I think what's going to happen on the Net is that old forms of
business are finding new forms of expression. Book-selling is one example.
While we used to walk down to Barnes & Noble to buy books, it is great to
be able to order books from the Net. People are taking steps in every area,
from creating infrastructure technology to actually marketing and
distributing the goods. Increasingly, the focus is on commerce, advertising
and subscriptions.
E.R.: What would you suggest to someone like the journalist Michael
Kinsley, who created the Web-based magazine Slate for Microsoft Network,
but who has not had much luck so far convincing people to subscribe to it?
Stone: Michael's approach at this point is really to build brand, because
at this moment on the Internet there is so much noise and so little signal
that a new service needs to establish brand and value. What he needs to do
is establish his brand and establish a relationship with a customer base.
E.R.: Let's end the interview on a couple of personal questions. What is
your typical week at Microsoft like, and what kinds of things do you like
to do when you're not working?
Stone: Typically I get up pretty early in the morning and start returning
phone calls and handling e-mail from home, where I work for a few hours to
escape rush hour. Once at the office, I'm often in meetings for a good part
of the day. Our work is extremely collaborative and requires a lot of
communication. As for interests beyond work, I like to travel and to spend
time at home. I enjoy spending time with friends and with children. I
didn't mention it earlier, but I graduated early from high school and went
to art school before goingto college. I used to do mostly spinning,
weaving and hand-building with porcelain. Now, I'm doing more painting.
E.R.: And as far as your work at Microsoft is concerned, what do you like
the most?
Stone: The variety, the people, the ideas. I'm grateful to work with a lot
of really smart, creative people. It's a lot of fun.