From the Desk of David Pogue: An Ode to Bill
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A funny thing is going on with Microsoft these days;
It's got its fingers in our lives in 50 thousand ways.
There's Windows on our palmtops, and, of course, on the PC,
There's Windows for our dashboards, too, and even for TV.

It's not enough our offices run Windows every day;
Now Microsoft, with X-Box, wants to tell us how to play.
The giant has made it clear that next it wants the Net --
As close to global-domination lust as you can get.

But what's to stop the company from widening its sights?
So many juicy markets -- they must keep Bill Gates up
nights.
If there's a product anywhere with profit in its path,
The Redmond gang is really good at figuring the math.

Consider all the fun we'll have if things go on this way:
In 20 years, a Windows watch will speak the time of day,
We'll download patches for our phones, buy upgrades for the
fridge,
We'll put our homes in Safe Mode, and reboot the Brooklyn
Bridge.

We'll grow up eating Window-O's from MSN.com,
We'll buy a Windows tux and take our dates to ActiveProm.
We'll marry, spend our honeymoon at MS Pyramids,
Then go upstairs for ActiveSync and soon have PocketKids.

And over time, the phrase "Pay as you go" will fade away;
The world Bill Gates imagines will be more, "Go as you pay."
Yes, innovation, privacy and choice will suffer -- still,
We'll get to see a U.S. first: a trillion-dollar Bill.