Jobs, Gates at D5 in May

Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will make a rare joint appearance at The Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference this May. The two seminal figures in the development of the personal computer will jointly discuss the history and future of the digital revolution in an unrehearsed, unscripted, onstage conversation on May 30 with D co-producers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. Both executives have made multiple individual appearances at the conference, which will celebrate its fifth anniversary this year (and thus called 'D5'); however, this will be their first joint session at D, and a "highly unusual event," according to the WSJ press release.

In addition to participating in the joint session with Microsoft's founder Gates, Jobs will appear on his own in a separate segment at D5 to discuss the latest developments at Apple, including new ventures such as the iPhone and Apple TV. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will also appear at the conference in his own segment, to discuss Windows, Office, the Xbox, Zune, and other topics.

The D5 conference will also feature a roster of other leaders in technology and media. Confirmed speakers include Google CEO Eric Schmidt; CBS President Les Moonves; Cisco CEO John Chambers; film director George Lucas; online pioneer Steve Case; Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore; News Corp. President Peter Chernin; Palm founder Jeff Hawkins; and Steve Chen and Chad Hurley of YouTube.

Last year at D4, Bill Gates shared a sneak peek at Microsoft’s next version of Office and Nicholas Negroponte gave attendees a first look at the working prototype of his low-cost computer for children in developing countries.

Like past editions of the conference, D5 will be an all-interview event, without canned speeches. The conference, which is sold out, will take place May 29-31 near San Diego, California.

If you plan on attending the conference, please drop us a line.

by MacNN Staff