1998年7月20日的《财富》杂志刊登了股神巴菲特对比尔·盖茨的采访。1998年的盖茨还不知道自己马上要应付指控以防公司被分拆，可是却已经知道了中国的麦当劳是什么滋味。当被问及微软的中国策略，盖茨回答：“中国人不会为软件付钱，不过总有一天他们会的。既然他们想要去偷，我们想让他们偷我们的。他们会因此上瘾，这样接下来的十年我们就会找出某种办法让他们付账。”

　　What impelled you to make a trip together to China in 1995, and how has that trip affected your global business decisions since?

　　巴菲特：是什么促使你1995年做了一次到中国的旅行，打那以后这次旅行如何影响了你的全球商业决策？

　　GATES: We went to China for a lot of reasons. Partly to relax and have fun. We found a few McDonald's there, so we didn't feel too far away from home. It was also exciting to go and see all the changes taking place, to see different parts of the country, and to meet some of the leaders.

　　盖茨：我们去中国有很多原因。一部分是为了轻松一下，找点乐子。我们在那里找到几家麦当劳，所以我们不觉得离家太远。去看看发生在那里的变化，走遍国家的各个部分，会见一些领导，一样是激动人心的。

　　China is a market that Microsoft had already been investing in. We've upped that a lot since then. As a percentage of our sales, though, it's tiny--well under 1%--and so even though it will double every year for the next five years, it's really only by taking a ten-year view that we can say it's worth the emphasis we're putting on it.

　　微软早就在中国进行了投资。后来我们受益很多。尽管从营销收入的百分比来看，只有不到1%——这确实微薄，但接下来的五年中这个数字每年都会加倍。只有通过做十年的长远规划，我们才能说，强调我们在中国市场的耕耘是值得的。

　　Although about three million computers get sold every year in China, people don't pay for the software. Someday they will, though. And as long as they're going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.

　　尽管在中国每年有大约300万台电脑被售出，中国人却不会为软件付钱，不过总有一天他们会的。既然他们想要去偷，我们想让他们偷我们的。他们会因此上瘾，这样接下来的十年我们就会找出某种办法让他们付账。