49% Believe China Or Japan Will Produce The Next Bill Gates; 13% Back India

Step forward, Bill-ji. The next Bill Gates is more likely to be lurking in Asia � in China, Japan or India, in that order � than in America, according to a new poll released by Zogby International and 463 Communications.
A new survey of Internet Attitudes in the United States showed that nearly half of all Americans (49 per cent) believe that the next great technology leader will come from either China (26.7 per cent) or Japan (22.4). Only 21 per cent believe he or she could come from the US, while a surprising 13 per cent backed India as the next home of a prospective Bill-ji. Russia (2.1 per cent) and Brazil (0.4 per cent) were cited as other possibilities.
However, higher-income Americans ($1,00,000 salary and above) were more bullish about American prospects, listing the US first (27.6 per cent), followed by India (25.9 per cent) and then China (23.1), suggesting those higher up the economic ladder saw almost as much promise in India as in the US and China.
�The next Bill Gates has already been born, and time will tell what country is providing the environment of innovation, entrepreneurism and opportunity to enable him or her to flourish,� the firm 463 Communications said in a release.
A cartoon on a blog run by 463 Communications read: �Americans Say Next Bill Gates is Currently Studying Math in Beijing�. Why Americans are so down on their own technological fecundity, considered they have given birth to YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, eBay, Yahoo etc, is perhaps evident from their preference for the traditional media.
Only one-third (32 per cent) of all Americans believe that the Internet is a greater invention. Sixty-five per cent said Johannes Gutenberg�s printing press that won him the title �Man of the Millenium� by Time some years back is a greater invention. Remarkably, white Americans favoured the printing press over the internet by 69 to 27 per cent, while ethnic minorities backed the internet more. Only 57 per cent of African Americans favored the printing press and 41 per cent chose the internet, while Hispanic Americans favoured the internet 51 to 47%.
Asian Americans seemed bowled over by the Net favouring it by 85 to 12 percent. It appears Americans are still cool towards the hottest new video internet technology. Seventy-per cent said they would rather watch the evening news on TV instead of a citizen video report of an event on an outlet like YouTube. And in the world�s most passionate automobile society, when asked �What would make it harder for you to work � your car not starting, or losing internet and e-mail access?� 78 per cent gave the nod to the car, while only 10 per cent said the Net.

TECH TALK

Nearly half of all Americans (49%) believe that the next great technology leader will come from either China (26.7%) or Japan (22.4%) 21% feel he could come from US Higher-income Americans list the US first (27.6%), followed by India (25.9%) and then China (23.1) 65% of Americans believe Gutenberg�s printing press is the greatest invention Only 32% believe that the internet is a greater invention

via Times Of India