Comdex Fall: Gates plays it for laughs

1970's rock group Steely Dan provided the introductory music for Bill Gates, and most attendees would agree that Do It Again was a pretty good theme tune for the Microsoft chairman's 75 minutes opening keynote last night in Comdex, Las Vegas.

Belying Gates' geeky reputation, this was a cracking performance - heavy on the jokes but thin on content. Wearing a v-neck pullover and open-neck shirt, despite the stifling heat of the packed Aladdin theatre, Gates made several jokey references to the Department of Justice (DOJ), which has recently been investigating Microsoft's business practices. Kicking off, Gates said: "when somebody told me I was speaking, I was worried nobody would come, but I guess I've been in the news a lot recently."

To hoots of laughter, Gates imitated the popular list item from David Letterman's chat show when presenting a top 10 of his favourite things about the PC. Number 10 was playing with kids' software with his 18-month-old daughter who already knows the word "puter", said Gates.

The list also afforded self-deprecatory digs at the PC: "every function in my home is managed by PC