Gordon Moore on Charlie Rose

In case you missed it, Charlie Rose interviewed Intel's co-founder Gordon Moore tonight. The full-hour interview was fantastic. Moore was candid and accessible, acknowledging that he has become a historian of the industry because his technological expertise became instantly obsolete when he removed himself from the engineering trenches.

To properly gauge Moore's performance, compare him to Charlie Rose's earlier interview with Lee Raymond, Chairman and CEO of Exxon/Mobil, who was slicker and more evasive than most guests on the show. Raymond would avoid most questions and find a way to backtrack, repeating the phrase, "Well that's not what I said" or "Not necessarily" (or some version of that) at least nine or ten times. Although sometimes it is fun to see someone successfully avoid questions by truly using the art of rhetoric and persuasive speech, Raymond was clearly not up for the challenge. He opted, instead, to ignore questions or just move on.

If you would like to see the Gordon Moore interview, the episode will be on re-run tomorrow on PBS.