D Conference: Gates and goodies

Update:  There IS an official blog.  http://wsj.com/Dnotebook.

Bill Gates kicked off the 4th annual D: All Things Digital Conference last night.  Sponsored by the Wall Street Journal, it's a high-end tech conference featuring speakers including Al Gore, Terry Semel,  and Barry Sonnenfeld.

Gates, in his remarks, did not deny Microsoft may be working on a portable music player and did say the company is planning to offer ways for people to store lots of data on the Internet. He also said it's appropriate to think of him as "chairman" of the company, leading Barron's Eric Savitz to conclude that newly-hired Ray Ozzie, "is taking on a greater and greater role in software development at Microsoft."

(Savitz is doing very nice coverage of this event.  Wish there was also an official blogger, and a Webcast option for remote access.)

Savitz also revealed what he, and other attendees, found in their gift "bag o' schwag".  Included were a Yahoo baseball cap, DVDs and CDs from Sony, a certificate good for a discount on Steelcase chairs, and a "nonstick cookie sheet" from Martha Stewart.