“The World Would Be Worse Off”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with the head of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, on the anti-trust proceedings against his company, his aggressive style of leadership and the future of the software industry:

“If we had a monopoly we could sit back comfortably because we would own something that no one else could have. Then we could raise the prices at will. But that’s exactly what we can’t do. We have got to run, run, run to keep our customers. … We’re not the only ones who are aggressive, the entire software industry is an extremely high-competition business with ruthless rivalry. … The PC market will continue to grow. It’s a huge market in which 140 million PCs were sold world-wide this year alone. With sales figures like that you can’t expect 30 percent growth any more. But aside from that there will be more and more pocket computers taking part in the new network, set-top boxes and many other devices that require intelligent software.”

“Putting aside All Inhibitions”

Death penalty: The Federal German government is suing the United States before the International Court of Justice because of the execution of two German citizens – a remarkable course of action between friends. But Berlin, too, could face some disagreeable questions at the trial. The legal document submitted to the court by the German government’s legal experts is 1300 pages long. It sets out to prove that US authorities ignored international law not only negligently but deliberately. The American government intends to turn up in The Hague with a large retinue and defend itself offensively. The Germans, it argues, did not devote much attention to the two brothers when they learnt of their case in 1992.

“Paths through the Information Jungle”

Internet: The Internet comprises more than a billion pages, and every day another million are added. Are search engines overtaxed by this rapid growth? A new generation is meant to increase the success rate and even find photographs, music and foreign-language texts. With the help of huge computer plants and specialised teams of developers, the search engineers want to blaze entirely new trails through the information jungle. Their aim is to provide users with electronic assistants that not only plough through the databases but also understand the information in them.

“Yellow, Red and Black”

German armed forces: The German Bundeswehr is becoming a multi-cultural army. Germans born in Russia, Ghana, Vietnam or Poland are putting the troops’ tolerance to the test. While armchair politicians and those on the political stage may still stir up public opinion with the immigration issue, being multi-cultural is already part of normal life in the most national of all German state institutions.

“Other Dreams Cost Money Too”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with research minister Edelgard Bulmahn on the German involvement in the International Space Station, holiday trips into space and manned missions to the Mars:

“I would have contributed a smaller percentage to the construction of the ISS. In particular I would have made the space station a world-wide project from the beginning. … Germany needs to become involved in those areas where its strengths lie, where it comes at least first or second. Our clear strength lies in space robotics, we lead the field there. That’s why this area will be of greater importance in the future. … I’m quite sure that one day a German astronaut too will spend prolonged periods of time on board the ISS. What I find much more important, though, is that German scientists and German companies are able to use the laboratory capacity for their experiments.”

“Toads in the Garden of Poetry”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Canadian best-selling author Margaret Atwood on sisters, the moral responsibility of literature, her home country and her new novel “The Blind Assassin”:

“A novel cannot consist simply of the inner life of its heroine. You can only understand why people make which decisions if you know their relationship to history. … All authors writhe when the question of their social responsibility is raised. … What distinguishes a writer is his or her ability to believe in the reality of the toads in a fictional garden. That’s roughly how American lyrical poet Marianne Moore put it. Writers like me – licensed liars who have to tell true untruths – are under an obligation to these toads in the garden of poetry, we have to devote time and attention to them. That is our responsibility.”

“It’s Got to Swing”

SPIEGEL interview with trombone player Albert Mangelsdorff, who was voted the world’s best Jazz trombonist in 1980 by American music journal “Down Beat”, on the crisis of the Berlin Jazz Festival, the listening habits of the audiences, bird song and his plans for the future:

“It looks as though the festival will be able to continue. The funding is secure for the year ahead. … While the acceptance of jazz has increased enormously, less and less space is being devoted to it in the public service media. … America still plays a major role in jazz. But in the meantime a lot of independent developments have taken place in Europe and elsewhere in the world.”

“Island in the Underworld”

Archaeology: A hitherto unknown burial chamber has been discovered beneath the pyramids of Gizeh. The crypt contains human bones.

“Suicide No Longer Possible”

Cars: The ecological image of the diesel engine continues to be clouded by exhaust particulates. Peugeot is introducing the first particle filters and giving the industry a lot of explaining to do.

“Teutons on a Horror Trip”

Celebrations: Over the next few days, countless Germans will be turning into ghosts. “Halloween”, the ghoulish festival from America, is becoming more and more popular here. Are the days of peaceful reflection over? Will tranquil, quaint little lantern processions, the reverent remembrance of the dead – German traditions all, have to make way for the pumpkin spectacular? Folklorists reassure the objectors who fear that the fuss made over Halloween is mere copying, and hence an expression of final Americanisation. A Marburg ethnologist points out that festivals and rituals have always been passed on from one culture to the next, and each culture that has taken over the parties of another has eventually turned them into a thing of its own.

“Love Potion from Castro”

Brazil: A town near Rio is handing out a natural potency drug for free – the idea comes from Cuba. The idea for the state-funded erection aid was put forward by three Cuban doctors who have been conducting health counselling in Paraíba do Sul for three years at Fidel Castro’s behest.

“Tender Bonds”

Japan: Rural areas are plagued by a dearth of brides. Now these are being enlisted with the help of beer and rewards in Operation Big Love. Arranged marriages are considered normal in Japan’s group society. But in former days the tender bonds were usually prepared relatively discreetly within the neighbourhood by superiors or relatives. Now the rapid decline of traditional village society is forcing the local authorities to arrange marriages through large-scale events.