“It’s like the Biblical ‘end of days,’” Ben-Zur says. “Computing power will be such that you’ll be able to have all the resources you need in one place. Transportation will be streamlined and things like power and food will be available for the same amount of money anywhere in the world. The result will be that there will be no need for countries to covet the possessions or resources of others – since there will be plenty for everyone, and there will be no need for anyone to invade the space of others. Thus, ‘nation shall not lift sword against nation.’”

It sounds fantastic, the naive vision of a facile optimist. But as chairman of a company that works with Israel’s largest software, hardware, internet, telecommunication, and software companies, Ben-Zur knows first-hand of the marvelous inventions and developments on the drawing boards, and in the workshops of hi-tech companies. And last week, Ben-Zur and Bynet treated thousands of visitors to the annual Bynet Expo, which gathers dozens of Israel’s largest tech companies under one roof to show off their wares and innovations. For those who worked in the computer industry abroad and wistfully remember the computer shows of old – with floor shows, T-shirts, keychains, “drop your business card in the box to win a laptop” contests, and a free lunch, Bynet Expo is as close as you’re going to get in Israel!

But of course, the main attraction at the show was the technology – of which there was much to see, too much for the day allocated to it. While there were numerous lectures and discussions on innovations in many areas of the computer industry, the main attraction, as it always is at such shows, were the booths set up by the biggest tech companies in Israel as well as many from abroad, including Cisco, IBM, Polycom, Audiocodes, Radware, etc.

Among the many things coming to a computer store near you is a better, faster way to do videoconferencing – in 3D! Thanks to a new generation of video transmission perfected by Radvision (a member of the RAD group, along with Bynet), called scalable video coding (SVC), which helps correct video transmission errors and enables superior forward error correction (ie anticipating when there is going to be packet loss and preparing for it) and faster transmission, with fewer bottlenecks. The transmission, coupled with superior 3D rendering software, enables users to have as realistic a video communications experience as possible, even from halfway across the world. And of course, no glasses are necessary.

According to Moshe Machline of Radvision, the system is good enough for the company that it was able to save nearly a million and a half dollars last year by enabling conferees to “meet” by video, instead of flying to meetings. “Eye contact is very important at meetings – you miss a lot the nuances on the screen, and that is one major thing that has held up adoption of videoconferencing. But with 3D videoconferencing, you can get a much better ‘read’ on everyone in the room, just as if you were actually there,” he says. The Radvision solution is sold by Bynet as part of a full videoconferencing solution.

Or take security – an area that unfortunately, in this period when the “end of days” has not quite yet arrived. Along with advances in video surveillance, Bynet partners have developed various technologies that enables the company to offer a unique solution for border patrols, police, and other law enforcement agents: a communication system capable of transmitting live, real-time video, data and voice communications via a single broadband connection, using a fast, secure, private network.

The key to the system is the high-speed wireless network, which allows fast transmission of high-resolution video and audio without any effort required on the part of the driver; the vehicle continues on its rounds or pursues a suspect, and the camera focuses, with an individual in the control center able to enhance the picture to see inside a vehicle even hundreds of meters away. Again, SVC and video correction and enhancement techniques are used, so observers get a full, uninterrupted view of the action. The network enables full transmission of the data with no bottlenecks.

And although the deployment of these technologies would seem to have little to do with the good and bountiful future Ben-Zur sees, the technologies that are being built today for prosaic and workaday needs will be the technology that supplies the future change, he says. “We’re coming into a period where there are going to be unlimited digital resources,” he says. “The bottlenecks that have prevented us from doing what we want are being eliminated, just as the problems of storage and standards were eliminated in earlier periods.

Once we get used to working with these resources, new uses for them will be developed – all of them making life easier,” Ben-Zur says. And the standardization and unlimited bandwidth that are coming won’t be used just for a faster Facebook connection; it will be used for things that really count, like delivering energy to far flung parts of the world, cheaply and safely. When that happens, he says, you’ll be able to stay where you are, and you won’t need to conquer the resources of others to fuel your economy. “When everything is available to everyone for a reasonable price and computers are doing most of the work – you have the building blocks for universal peace,” Ben-Zur says. It’s a vision even the most computer-phobic can embrace.

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And they can’t even come up with a decent copy of the stuff they’re ripping off, the critics say; Windows throughout its life span has often been notoriously unstable, and thanks to the Windows Registry and the million and one ways it can be manipulated, Microsoft basically created the computer virus business. Dissatisfaction with Vista is so high that many new computer buyers opt for the seven year old Windows XP instead of the “latest technology” Vista version of Windows (beginning today, the only version of Windows you can buy on a new laptop is Vista, with MS now requiring customers to ‘upgrade’). And Microsoft has traditionally done everything it can to discourage open source systems and software use and development. Recently, the company has become a bit more open to working with open source developers (like it had a choice in this open-source day and age?), but it’s still doing its best to hold on to its old attitudes.

What emerges is a picture of a company – and, by extension, a man, as Gates is so closely identified with Microsoft – that at best bumbles through, using less than wholesome tactics to retain its market position. You can’t blame a company for wanting to make money, of course, but Gates has more than enough (about $65 billion, according to http://philip.greenspun.com/WealthClock). You’d think he would give a little “back to the people” – not only in cash donations to charitable causes, but to the computing public, where he made so much of his money. I could go on and on, but you get the picture; here is a man who is hated by many. Even the people who admire him don’t necessarily like him as a person, it seems.

Now, I don’t want to give the wrong impression here: I am not a friend of Bill (not Gates, nor even Clinton); I don’t know him, personally or otherwise. But it seems to me that a positive word is due to this man, flaws and all, who really has had a major impact on computing today. Below are some of the accusations hurled at Mr. Gates, and why in my very humble opinion, they don’t apply.

Bill Gates is a robber baron: In the manner of railroad and banking barons of yore, Gates quashed the competition to get ahead, and rigged the system to keep his company on top. That, at least, is the received history. But if you want to blame anyone for Windows’ dominance, blame IBM, which allowed MS to sell versions of DOS to other PC manufacturers. In fact, according to this article, Gates would have been perfectly happy to make a deal with IBM on his Basic computer language; had suggested that IBM investigate an OS called CP/M (refuting another accusation leveled against Gates, that he somehow thwarted IBM’s adopting the competition to his as yet unwritten operating system).

It was only when that deal fell through that IBM sought Gates’ help on building an operating system. It’s hard to imagine any business willingly giving up its customer base – you were expecting MS not to try and convert customers from MS-DOS to Windows 3.1, then to Windows 95, 2000, XP, and so on? As Gates said in a 1995 Time Magazine interview, “If you’re accusing me of competition, then yes. You have to decide. Are we optimized to help competitors, or are we optimized to help customers?”

Windows is a ripoff of [insert OS name here]: When people say that Windows “ripped off” its OS from Apple or other companies (most notably Xerox’s PARC system, which Apple itself is accused of ripping off), they mean that Microsoft stole the idea of a GUI (graphical user interface), using icons, drop down menus, and other visual interfaces to interact with a computer OS. On the surface, it would seem to be a legit charge; DOS was as text-based an OS as you could get, and Apple’s Lisa and Mac systems preceded the release of Windows in any form, as demonstrated by the timeline at http://toastytech.com/guis/guitimeline.html.

However, the timeline indicates that there were a number of other GUI systems on the market. And while today MS is accused of having stolen its GUI ideas from Apple, at the dawn of graphics interfaced OS systems it wasn’t Microsoft that Apple had a problem with – it was Digital Reseach’s GEM system that ripped off the Mac’s “look and feel.” It was only several years later, with the introduction of Windows 2.0, that Apple targeted Microsoft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc._litigation).

The point is that clearly GUI work was not being done in a vacuum in the mid-1980s. Today, of course, the arena of who took what from whom has expanded significantly, as the New York Times link above demonstrates. Let’s say that historically, as well as today, the various operating systems (today that would be Mac OS X, Windows XP/Vista, and Linux GUIs) are “derivative,” meaning that one looks at the other and attempts to duplicate a good idea – much like car manufacturers do when they add new features to new models. Anyone who remembers word processors like Wordstar, though (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordStar) knows that there’s no comparing its DOSsy interface to the menus used in GUI-type word processors. Meaning that sooner or later, all word processors were going to go GUI – as were all operating systems.

Windows is buggy, prone to virus infection, etc.: I have never worked for MS, and have never been within 500 miles of its headquarters in Washington State (see how provincial I really am?). So I’m really not in a position to comment on the company’s culture. For example, some have tried to link the preponderance of viruses for Windows to some factors in the company’s methods of work and research (being reactive instead of innovative and fighting last month’s battles instead of looking forward) – but others say that it’s to be expected, since hackers seeking to inflict damage will aim for the OS used by 90% of the market – Windows – in order to wreak the most havoc.

One thing that is clear about Microsoft, or any other large corporation: It’s not a startup, where you can run through experimental ideas on the dime of a VC angel. MS has a responsibility to its stockholders and clients, and accusations like “they don’t innovate, just duplicate” have to be seen in this context. Knowing their clients, it would probably be irresponsible for MS to put IT managers in the position of trying some new, little tested innovation just because engineers in the company believe in it. In other words, you would expect nothing less than a conservative approach to the computing field from a company the size of MS.

Which brings us back to Mr. Gates. Say what you want about him, but it takes a lot of talent – and innovation – to build a Microsoft. Now that he’s free of the restrictions of the CEO’s desk, he might really surprise us, and come up with a very non-corporate innovation. He’s certainly got the money to invest in his ideas. Like good ol’ Colonel Sanders, retirement could be the next big career move for Bill Gates!

The same holds true for the computer industry; today’s hi-tech darling could be tomorrow’s old news, says Shlomo Gradman, organizer of the second annual Ra’anana Conference for National High Tech Policy (click on the English button at the top of the page). Israel is a premier location for hi-tech development today, second (if not first) to Silicon Valley. But where many see clear skies for Israel’s hi-tech future, Gradman sees a huge typhoon heading in from the east – courtesy of China and India – that may relegate Israel to a distance fourth banana status in terms of hi-tech development, a situation that would wreak havoc with the economy.

“It’s all in the numbers,” Gradman says. “Israel produces about 10,000 new engineers annually, while China and India graduate 850,000 between the two of them – half a million in China, and the rest in India. Add to that the newly revived economies in Eastern Europe, and Israel is looking at a lot of competition in the coming years for investment money for innovative development.”

In a sense, Gradman says, it’s Israel that is responsible for this new competition; developing countries looking at our predominance in hi-tech have come to realize that with education, infrastructure, and a little bit of luck, they, too, can develop a major export industry that brings first world wealth to a second or third world society – and they want in on a good thing. “We can’t afford to fall behind,” Gradman says. “Half of this country’s exports are in the area of hi-tech. Imagine what would happen to the economy if we lost that number of exports,” he says. The changes are already in the air, and if Israel doesn’t do something really soon – like right away – we could find ourselves on the international hi-tech unemployment line before we even realize what happened!

Preventing such a catastrophe is one of the major themes of the Raanana Conference, says Gradman; workshops will discuss issues such as setting strategic goals for Israel’s high tech industry, and developing new plans to improve education in science and technology and technology for Israeli students – to ensure that we’re using our human resources as efficiently as possible. “We have a major problem in this country when it comes to science and technology education,” Gradman says. “Only 8% of those graduating high school come out with five ‘points’ (yechidot) in their matriculation studies in math and science, essential building blocks for educating computer engineers. Already we’re short about 1,500 engineers a year. That gap is only going to get larger as the years go by, and there are plenty of competitors waiting in the wing to fill that gap,” Gradman says.

Like India and China, which many Israelis have not perceived as a major threat until now. Both countries are known for their cheap back-office programming sweatshops, where underpaid and undereducated workers build databases and write programs for Web applications – the kind of drudge stuff nobody really wants to do anyway, and certainly far from the world and Web changing innovation done here in Israel!

But that was then; now, India and China are ready to spread their hi-tech wings. “What’s stopped them in the past has been a lack of infrastructure, but as they get wealthier, they can afford more labs and development centers, making it more likely that investors will see them as development centers for innovative technology, and not just dumping grounds for back-office work.” Like Gradman says, it’s all in the numbers; Between the two of them, India and China are producing 100 time the engineers Israel is. “The odds are that out of such a large pool, some major innovations that attract available investment dollars and jobs are inevitable,” he says, pointing to studies at several U.S. universities which showed that students from Asia thrive and innovate when given the kind of labs and development centers available in the U.S. and Israel.

“Now is the time to set proper policies and strategies to prevent a calamity,” Gradman says – and that’s what the Raanana Conference is all about. Among the speakers at the conference will be heavyweights in the world of education, science, technology and politics – areas where officials will need to roll up their sleeves and get to work if we’re to stay on top of the hi-tech game. Scheduled speakers include Minister of Industry, Trade & Labor Eli Yishai, Education Minister Yuli Tamir, Finance Minister Roni Bar-on, Chief Scientist Dr. Eli Opper, representatives of some of the biggest hi-tech companies and venture capital firms active in Israel, Mayor of Raanana Nachum Hofri (whose city is a partial sponsor of the conference) – and President Shimon Peres.

With all that brain and political power, the Raanana Conference should be able to come up with some plan on how to keep Israel on top – and Gradman, who is also head of the Israel CEO Forum, has some ideas. “Education is of course a priority, and we have to make sure more of our kids are inspired to want to take on the burden of learning math and science.” To that end, Gradman says that a number of major hi-tech firms have adopted a plan innovated by Intel, called ‘Think Positive,’ where kids in cities around the country are able to work with Intel employees after school on science projects and assignments in math, physics, chemistry, etc.

“Intel does much of its important development in processors and wireless technology right here, and they, too are concerned at the dearth of engineers. They developed this to ensure that more students succeed in science, encouraging them to take five matriculation points in the hard sciences, and embark on careers that Israel has a real need for new personnel in.” Gradman says that companies like Nice, IBM, Kodak, Amdocs and others will be adopting the project in their own firms as well.

And improving the atmosphere of science education in schools isn’t beyond the budgetary abilities of the country; Israel spends more per capita on education than almost other country in the world, Gradman says. “It’s a question of reallocating what we have, as opposed to increasing the budget,” he says. Gradman is also reaching out to potential new immigrants; Jewish Agency head Ze’ev Bielski (one of the scheduled speakers) has initiated a new program called “Olim le’Hi-tech,” which aims to bring no fewer than 1,000 hi-tech engineer olim to Israel each year. Another area being explored is expanding retraining efforts for Israelis seeking new careers, under a program in which the Employment Service provides training and stipends for those receiving unemployment benefits.

Strategy is going to be just as important as education, Gradman says. “Right now we have no national policy on development; if the Chief Scientist and the VCs think you have a good idea, you can get funding.” Instead of trying to be all things to all people, Gradman says, Israel should concentrate on several key areas where we are already ahead, and build on that – making us predominant in those areas and preventing other countries from catching up any time soon. “For example, Israel is already the world innovator in environmental technology, such as water, agriculture, etc. Instead of competing in Web spaces trying to put out the next big social networking software, the country’s resources should be put into areas we have a chance of pulling ahead in,” he says.

That’s not to say that Web application development would be banned – just that ideas along the lines of the preferred strategy would get funding priority from the government. And instead of depending largely on foreign investors – who have their own agendas – to invest in development, Israeli hi-tech has several important funding resources it hasn’t drawn upon yet. “Our hi-tech industry needs about $2 billion a year in investment. The Chief Scientists invests about $350 million annually, with the balance coming from foreign Vcs,” Gradman says. But why look abroad when we have potential investors right here? “With pension reform, managers of pension and education funds are now free to invest in hi-tech, just as they invest in other industries – and these managers control about $200 billion.” Why not use our own resources to pursue a policy that will benefit the country in the long term? Good question, says Gradman – and that, among others, is one the for which the Raanana Conference will provide an answer.