And so last week came news of a merger of Cambridge dons and Microsoft uber-nerds - specifically, the establishment of an $80 million Microsoft research lab that would work hand in data-glove with the university’s computing center to invent technologies for the new millennium. In addition, Microsoft will contribute $16 million in venture capital to juice up the regional software industry.
The Brits are thrilled. ““There’s been talk of “Silicon Fen’ for over 10 years,’’ said Alec Broers, the university’s vice chancellor, intimating that with the help of America’s software giant, talk now becomes reality. ““It might not be an exaggeration to say that Cambridge will be a communications and multimedia center to rival the best in the world.''
The idea came up last summer, in a memo penned by Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft’s 37-year-old technology head. Building from scratch (research head Rick Rashid often quips that ““Microsoft Research’’ used to be an oxymoron), the company has snared top people in areas like 3-D graphics, voice recognition, data mining and programming theory. But some prospects, even before Myhrvold tried to seduce them with lucrative stock offers and a chance to talk algorithms with Bill himself, have said they didn’t want to move to the Northwest. Since the firm was about to triple its commitment to basic research - going from under 200 to more than 500 wizards - Myhrvold suggested that Microsoft open a new shop elsewhere.
The best place, he decided, was Cambridge, where he had been a postdoctoral student under legendary physicist Stephen Hawking. The Softies identified Roger Needham, head of Cambridge’s computer lab, as the ideal candidate to head the new lab. ““It struck me as a good idea,’’ says Needham, who quickly got his Cambridge bosses on board. Microsoft has already hired two top computer scientists and now is making approaches to its ““hit list’’ of further candidates. And so this summer Microsoft Research Ltd. will get to work in rented digs in central Cambridge, above a nightclub called Fifth Avenue. ““It just might destroy all the nighttime productivity of the lab,’’ jokes Myhrvold. (Maybe not so funny: the music plays until 2:30 a.m. six nights a week.)
From Microsoft’s point of view, the project looks golden. The Redmondites desperately want to generate innovations to make computers easier to use and more productive. If Microsoft understands those advances before anyone else, then it can build software that exploits those ideas - leaving its competitors in the dust. (The main potential problem is figuring out how to run a lab 6,000 miles from the main campus; Microsoft’s current researchers say their success in getting innovations into the product pipeline comes largely because of close interaction with the product groups in Redmond.)
Then there is the benefit of establishing an intellectual beachhead outside the States. Microsoft, after all, is a global company, reaping more than half its $9 billion in yearly sales overseas. ““Increasingly [our efforts overseas] will penetrate into research and product development,’’ says Myhrvold.
Finally, Microsoft has created a new power hub. An in- timate association with the famed Cambridge computer lab hands the Softies a royal advantage. The new lab will sponsor the university’s hottest intern and postdoc positions, drawing the country’s brightest wizards into Microsoft’s sphere.
Some concerns are beginning to surface. ““The great danger is that our best brains will be exported straight to Seattle,’’ says Cambridge entrepreneur Peter Dawe. Others worry about Microsoft’s role as a venture capitalist. ““They [now] have a privileged position,’’ says Andrew Sandham, head of a local biotechnology firm.
But the reality is that, at present, only American companies are seat-belted into the highway to digital billions. If strapping in with Microsoft can change that, why not? ““We have been desperate for years for better connectivity with the U.S., and in particular with Microsoft,’’ says Hermann Hauser, cofounder of Acorn Computer and a participant in the new venture fund. ““Whether we like it or not, the agenda is being set in the U.S., and we have to fit in with it.''
Funny . . . for all the talk about fitting in with Microsoft, no one with an English accent seems to be talking about competing with Microsoft. It turns out that the Harvard-dropout billionaire has plenty to teach the dons at Cambridge.
