Bill Gates Celernter, D. (1999,

Bill Gates

Celernter, D. (1999, Dec. 7). Bill Gates. Retrieved May 23, 2009, from Time. Web Site:

http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/profile/gates.html

In this article, David Celernter (1998) argues that Bill Gates earned his fame and fortune by being a follower rather than a leader. He suggests that Bill Gates is an "American Unoriginal," (pg. 1) and that his story might suggest to others that following and relying on others ideas is the best way to end up as successful as Gates. Celernter (1998) supports this point by listing experiences in which Gates borrowed ideas from others and only made it big by being a mediator. In other words, Gelernter suggests that Gates helped other people's original ideas work together in order to achieve something truly extraordinary. Gates was not truly the creative genius behind Microsoft and computer science, but let the academic types develop the ideas, while he negotiated how they would work together to serve the needs of the public. For instance, Gates developed the Microsoft operating system as a conjunction of operating systems instead of developing a unique operating system in order to satisfy customer needs. Even the current Window's operating system that is so praised among computer scientists and users today was not Gates' original idea, but instead was first developed by Macintosh and only perfected by Gates for the PC. As the Internet became popular, Gates borrowed other companies' ideas, perfected them, and made a profit -- a large profit. Celernter (1998) states that, "Today Microsoft is the world's most powerful supplier of Web browsers, and Gates really has it made" (pg. 2).

Because of his findings regarding Gates, Celernter draws several conclusions and generalizations. First he ponders whether or not creativity is really the way to make money or whether it is just to be an astute follower. Are the creative geniuses really the ones who end up becoming successful, or is it those who understand how to adapt these creative ideas to the public's use who are the real heroes of technology? It is for the generation of this question that this article is important, and the article can certainly be used to justify the fact that it is the followers not the leaders who are the most successful. Another broad theme used in this article is the fact that technology is complicated, and it is difficult to assess whether or not a person is a great thinker using technology. The person may, truly, be an original, or he or she may just know how to adapt others' findings to the modern world and customer desires. Finally, Celernter discusses Gates' personality in terms of his contribution to society. Celernter believes that those who label Gates in a negative way are mistaken, and Gates is actually a decent person who does not expect his views to be taken as fact just because he is wealthy. He contributes his wealth to charity and does not subject his family to the Hollywood limelight. Although he is vilified because he is wealthy, Gates does not engage in any false pretenses regarding how he obtained his success. Instead, he managed to run a successful business through adapting others' ideas rather than engaging in creative endeavors himself. There is nothing fundamentally wrong about this practice.