'Power' struggle

A Microsoft-related item from the P-I business staff's Insider column this morning:

Bill Gates and Lotus Notes creator Ray Ozzie appeared on CNBC's "Power Lunch" last week to talk about Microsoft's plan to purchase Ozzie's Groove Networks. At least, that was the ostensible purpose of the interview.

Presented with the rare opportunity to interview Gates, hosts Bill Griffeth and Sue Herera couldn't resist asking him about completely unrelated topics -- leaving Ozzie, a technology pioneer in his own right, sitting silently for long portions of the interview.

The scene turned almost comical as Gates tried to bring things back to the subject of Microsoft's pending acquisition of Groove and its collaboration software. For example, at one point, Griffeth asked for Gates' opinion on the decline of the dollar.

Said Gates: "Well, I'm not really an expert on macroeconomic things. ... I think the value of innovation is something that will be very strong no matter what's going on macroeconomically. I do see the global economy forcing people to collaborate in more complex ways ... There's wonderful stories about how the Groove product has been used. ... That's the kind of scenario we're seeing in more and more businesses. We just hope we can facilitate the economy working more efficiently."

Ah, back on topic. Well, for a moment, at least. Herera next asked for Gates' opinion on "the situation over at Boeing" -- a reference to Harry Stonecipher's ouster -- and the ethical standards to which CEOs are being held nowadays.

How on earth could Gates turn a question like that back to the subject of the Groove deal? First he pointed out that he passed the CEO's role to Steve Ballmer five years earlier. It has worked well, he said, "to have me focused on product technology -- and now people like Ray Ozzie helping me do that even better."

Access the CNBC video via the link in this Wall Street Journal article.