Despite arguments over the technicalities of Moore's Law, the bottom line is we've seen fairly consistent performance increases throughout the years in the microprocessor industry. The problem with this, says Bill Gates, is that the same expectations can't be applied to other tech sectors.

"We've all been spoiled and deeply confused by the IT model," Gates said in response to a question from the audience during last week's Techonomy conference. "Exponential improvement -- that is rare."

That isn't to say that certain tech segments never see that kind of growth, and according to Gates, you can "see it in hard disk storage, fiber capacity, gene-sequencing rates, biological databases, [and] improvements in modeling software," to name a few. But in other areas, like battery development, exponential growth just isn't a reality.

"They [batteries] haven't improved hardly at all," Gates said. "There are deep physical limits. I am funding five battery start-ups and there are probably 50 out there. [But] that is a very tough problem. It may not be solvable in any sort of economic way."

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Has it been two years already? Bill Gates, once the face of Microsoft, stepped down from his position as CEO of the largest software maker in the world back in July 2008, and he hasn't been back since. So what's he up to now?

CNNMoney has put together a fairly in-depth piece detailing life after Microsoft for the man who, not all that long ago, was spotted doing the Robot next to Jerry Seinfeld and made us all crave churros. In a nutshell, he's doing exactly what he said he would, which is to continue fighting the good fight through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Still young by retirement standards, Bill Gates is only 54 years old with a fortune estimated at $50 billion, even after spending tens of millions of his own dollars on his Foundation.

"Because of all of his connections in business and technology and philanthropy, and his raw intellect, Bill brings an integrated, futuristic view of the world," says Jeff Raikes, a former Microsoft executive who became the CEO of the foundation at about the same time Gates retired. "One day he's meeting with [Italian Prime Minister Silvio] Berlusconi about not pulling back on foreign aid, and the next day he's meeting with scientists at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute to talk about progress on an AIDS vaccine, and the next day he's meeting with Arne Duncan [the U.S. Secretary of Education] on how we'd like to recognize and reward good teachers. He really has a big picture view that is unique."

Get the full scoop here.