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Simonyi In Space

I worked for Simonyi briefly when I was an intern at Microsoft, several (many?) years ago, in the pre-web 1.0 era....

Boys and their Toys

It is interesting how every company has its own culture: whereas the Google parking lot is a nondescript place full of pedestrian Toyotas and Hondas (at least it will be nondescript until solar panels are added), Microsoft in the early 90's was different - Microsoft boys like to show off their toys. When the Acura NSX came out, the best way to see some - several in every color - was to take a walk in the lot under building 17.

Simonyi, an early leader of Microsoft's apps division, was the definition of Microsoft technowealth. He built a remarkable cubist waterfront house, filled it with a notable art collection, and drove to parties in the fastest boat. When boating wasn't an option, he enjoyed arriving at events by helicopter. He loved beautifully-made technology, and he loved piloting. One sunny afternoon he decided to take us interns on a buzz around Mt. Rainier in his jet. What a summer...

Simonyi is aiming higher now. News is, he is going to be the next space tourist. Good for him!

Here is a link to his space-travel website: charlesinspace.com.

Posted by David at October 27, 2006 03:13 PM