He has championed the idea of widespread computer use and of convergence between devices to enable what he calls the digital lifestyle. He has also ensured the centrality of the personal computer in the digital world, even as other devices from mobile phones to televisions provide increasingly sophisticated services.

Bill Gates, bidding farewell to a trade show he has opened for the last decade, predicted a more human side to computing in the next decade and announced partnerships between Microsoft and Ford NBC, ABC and Disney.

In a brief address to thousands of attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Gates confirmed that this will also be his last year kicking off the annual high-tech extravaganza as he steps down from day-to-day involvement at Microsoft.

"This will be the first time since I was 17 that I haven't had my full-time job at Microsoft," Gates said.

This year his talk centred on the successes of the past digital decade and what he expected to be the main development in the coming ten years. Not for him the passing fads of social networking and Web 2.0. His big prediction was that computing itself would become more intuitive, that easy-to-use devices like the iPhone would become the standard rather than the exception.

"The first digital decade has been a great success," he said of the past 10 years. "The second digital decade will be more focused on connecting people. It will be more user-centric."

"This is the area that people underestimate the most," he said of natural-user interface. "But the reaction to these natural interfaces has been very strong.

Though Bill Gates has proven to have the same sense of humor, as he ended his tech reign with a a spoof home video, and by challenging Robbie Bach, the head of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, to a match of Guitar Hero, a video music game which is supposed to mimic the sensation of being a rock star.

The two corporate heavyweights were joined on stage by real life guitar rockers Slash and Kelly "Tipper Queen" Law-Yone, who played a set.

The spoof home video showed how Bill Gates is trying to pursue a new career. Gates want to be a rap star, but Jay Z turns him down. After he tries to pursue a rock star career but U2’s Bono is very clear: "I can't replace Edge because you got a high score on Guitar Hero, Bill"

Also the film industry is no place to start a new career as a former software tycoon. Gates calls Steven Spielberg about an audition reel showing Gates as a horror film figure. Spielberg in turn calls George Clooney about a Bill Gates movie. "I can't play Bill Gates. I just can't ... ask Russell Crowe," says Clooney.

The Daily Show's Jon Stewart turns Gates down as a co-anchor after showing a clip of Gates running off the Daily Show set. As Microsoft colleagues comment that it may not be a coincidence that Gates is leaving in an election year, we see him turned down as running mate in separate phone conversations with both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

But let’s get back to Gates’ predictions. Analysts expect Gates to be right again. "The industry looked to him for guidance," said Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies, a technology research firm. "And he's delivered on that. He's been a visionary from the beginning."

Despite his spotty predictions record his departure could leave a vacuum at the pinnacle of the tech world. "He's kind of like the pope of our industry," said Gary Shapiro, president of the consumer electronics industry. "And as the pope he always draws a crowd and people follow every word he says. You either go to heaven or you don't if you have the Microsoft blessing."

Bill Gates’ speech means an end of an era, not only for Microsoft, but also for the tech world. Two techies are set to fill the huge gap he leaves behind him: Craig Mundie and Ray Ozzie. Mundie, a Microsoft veteran, takes over the post of chief research and strategy officer. Ozzie, the man whose inventions include Lotus Notes, did not join Microsoft until 2005 when it took over his company Groove Networks. His future title will be chief software architect.

But none of Gates' rumoured successors at Microsoft appear capable of filling that wider industry role. Many see Gates' long-time rival Steve Jobs as the man to fill his shoes. Jobs has already turned Apple around and placed it at the forefront of consumer technology, digital entertainment and cellphone innovation.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, may also step up. But as the man who more than ever influenced how billions of people interact with computers, Bill Gates will be irreplaceable.