MS Researcher to Explore Human Side of Technology
Microsoft Corp. Monday announced the hiring of Bill Buxton, a leading computer scientist and designer specializing in the human aspects of technology, to work with Microsoft Research and assist on various projects in the company's research labs around the world. Buxton, who will hold the title of senior researcher at Microsoft, brings a pedigree that includes research efforts at Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), SGI, Alias|Wavefront (now Alias Systems Corp.) and other academic and commercial pursuits.
Buxton, a Canadian, said he has spent the last 30 years studying and observing how people use technology. He said that while it has become easy to predict what the technology of the future will be, it is not easy to determine how people are going to use that technology.
Meanwhile, Buxton said the decision to join Microsoft "was an easy decision" for him.
"I said where can I go and have the biggest chance to take the ideas I've spent 30 years on and make a difference?"
