The What Now Series: Bill Gates
From a software guy to a philanthropist, William (Bill) Henry Gates has come a long way. Today, Bill Gates is synonymous with computers. It can be easily said that Bill Gates was the person who brought the computer our to the common man. Of course, he had little to do with the costs of computers, but it was his software, now the world's leading operating system, that bridged the gap between man and machine.
Bill Gates comes from a family of lawyers and bankers. His father was a lawyer, while his mother was on the board of directors at the First Interstate Bank.
People who today read about Bill Gates and his amassed wealth would think that he was indeed born with a silver spoon, what with coming from a family of lawyers and bankers, but it was actually not so simple a case. One should remember that this was the early sixties when having access to a computer was not as much as having money but moreso about being at the right place at the right time.
Gates studied at the Lakeside School in Seattle and it was there that he first discovered his penchant for computers. Personal computers were a far far dream away and the group had to buy computer time. And it was here that the group of Lakeside students were banned from the Computer Center Corporation for exploiting bugs in the operating system and earning more computer time.
Was this the moment where Gates decided that he would make it possible for everyone to have a computer in their homes? Was this the beginning of the personal computer? One would never know.
However, Bill Gates, and therefore, Micro-soft and later Microsoft, had deals with MIT and finally with IBM, which opened the doors for Bill Gates into the computer world. Microsoft soon unveiled the MS-DOS and finally, maybe the most used piece of code ever - Microsoft Windows.
Greatness never goes uncriticized, and Bill Gates has been criticized, accused and charged of many things, one of them being a monopolist. He has also been charged of unfair trade practices.
Love Him, Hate Him, Criticize Him, but for sure, Bill Gates is the person who has been instrumental in placing the P next to C in the PC.
