Michael Bloomberg is a media mogul in a big hurry. In the span of only 12 years, the 55-year-old former bond trader has built a media empire that includes on-line financial information, a news wire service, a 24-hour radio news operation and business and regular television news services–all of which carry his name. Not surprisingly his new autobiography is entitled, “Bloomberg by Bloomberg.” He recently came to Chicago to promote it.
Q: You’re in the business of putting computer terminals in front of people. What do you think of the push by President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore to have computers installed in all schools?
A: I think they’re looking for cheap political thrills.
Q: Wait a minute. You’re a Democrat . . .
A: Yeah, but the tragic mistake that we as adults are making is with our kids. Because it is a good photo-op with the president and the vice president, we want Internet access in every classroom, and we’re taking money away from teachers and spending it on technology.
The kids need the basic skills more than ever in a world that is more egalitarian than ever.
Q: Kids don’t need computer training?
A: Sure. But computer skills that a kid would learn in elementary school today–will they be important 15 years later? That’s the most ridiculous thing in the world. It makes no sense.
Q: But a big part of your livelihood comes from getting as many Bloomberg terminals on as many desks as you can.
A: I’m not knocking computers. Kids when they get to high school have to learn how to use them. But at the beginning, when we say it is either/or–either have computers or pay teachers–we think it is a panacea for teaching. We think we don’t have to force kids to study and believe that they’ll be drawn in by cartoons that will get them interested. Computers are good at teaching multiplication tables, but they are not good at teaching kids how to think.
On the other hand, adults are out there on the firing line. They need computer training. Technology creates more jobs than it destroys, but what’s more important, the jobs that technology creates are the jobs that are fillable by the work force.
There is this great myth that we are putting people out of work because they are not smart enough to use technology. That’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s not borne out by the facts. You can make the case that computers have not delivered the productivity enhancements that they promised. On the other hand, you go to the shop floor, and you’ll see amazing uses of technology.
Q: How is the Internet going to be a commercial success?
A: When you start waxing on eloquently about the Internet changing our world and believing we are all going to start going to the Henry James Web site every night or that we are going to be writing a paper on ancient Mesopotamia, that’s when I start to say, “Wait a second. That’s not the Internet. That’s not what’s going to take over the world.”
Q: So what will?
A: The Internet will become a commercial success when people view it just as they would television, when TV becomes a PC and a PC becomes a TV. Most of us don’t go home at night to work on a computer, although we say we do.
I’m a believer that most people want to go home at night and vege out. They want to be entertained, and the “Baywatch” kind of programming or sports programming is what they want. What we call the high-quality educational information stuff is not what the average person wants.
Q: You’re in the thick of a fierce race to provide business news. There’s a seemingly endless stream of business publications, as well as CNBC, CNNfn, Reuters, Dow Jones Telerate and your operation. Is there really a demand for all of this?
A: Conventional wisdom says the demand is there. And clearly the supply is up. But is the demand really there? I don’t know. Isn’t it true that when you talk to brokers, what they are trying to do is force people more into managed funds, like mutual funds? The number of people buying and selling stocks for their own accounts has gone down. People are buying mutual funds rather than investing.
It’s not clear that anyone is making any money with business news on television. CNBC’s money comes from talk shows at night–they don’t make any money during the day. CNNfn has no distribution, other than on Time Warner Cable. Is Bloomberg (making any money)? It’s hard to tell. I’m not sure there is this great demand. I see the supply, but you haven’t shown me the demand.
Q: So you’re saying that not everyone competing is going to survive?
A: That’s right.
Q: But you will?
A: Right again.
Q: Some people worry that consolidation of the media is going to lead to only a few people controlling most of the information. What’s your take on that?
A: I don’t know whether I agree with that. It’s not very worrisome in the long term because if you take a look at what technology is doing, in the world of tomorrow–tomorrow meaning two and three years from now–you will have an infinite number of radio stations and television stations and then all the worry about concentrated power is meaningless.
Q: Washington doesn’t see it exactly that way, though. Lawmakers are deregulating the industry, but they’re keeping a close eye on concentrations of individual power. Why?
A: The politicians are worried about what’s coming because they are losing control. In the past if you had crazy right-wing ideas, you could go and print up billboards and put them up.
Kooks didn’t really do any damage because most people didn’t see them. The difference now is that you can put something on the Net and the cost is virtually zero. So the ability for you as a nut is much greater, and that is what the politicians are panicked about.
A lot of this pornography stuff that people are panicked about–look, I’ve got a 14-year old daughter–is really about politicians being marginalized and using the issue to raise a flag and try to get back in control.
Q: Do you consider yourself a computer nut?
A: I’ve never used a spread sheet. In terms of word processing, I’ve taken Word Perfect. But I don’t use a PC as a PC. I write with a yellow pad, and I calculate with a slide rule.
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An edited transcript
