Bill Gates and the Microsoft empire: myth and reality

Bill Gates -- the Man & the Myth Behind Microsoft

Have you used some of Bill Gates' technology today?

Who is Bill Gates? Is he a reclusive billionaire and a genius? Or is he merely corporate mogul who just 'got lucky' by copycatting and piggybacking off of the technology developed by others? The answer may be a bit of both. Whether loved, hated, or feared, whether lauded for his financial acumen or despised as the Howard Hughes, an obsessive corporate mogul whose myriad of tics have raised whispers of Aspringer's Syndrome (a mind form of functional autism), Bill Gates dominates the world computing stage because of his ambitious beginning of the Microsoft empire. He is also one of the world's richest men. (Templeton, 1996)

In fact, even if the reader of this paper has not spoken to someone today, nor even turned on the television, but if he or she has logged on to the Internet, downloaded a program, or simply printed out a copy of a resume or a flier, there is a very good chance that Microsoft technology was involved in the process. Microsoft's ubiquity and Gates' widely publicized image and name has drawn criticism and ire as well as praise, donations, and more users to its sites and use of its technology. One angry website, the "Unofficial Bill Gates Website," albeit not useful for unbiased information in and of itself, is a useful source simply to scan as a kind of barometer of the level of hatred, even amongst computer aficionados, the image of Gates has been able to raise. Huffily, the logo, "Note that no Microsoft products are used in serving this site," are the first words a user sees upon entering the site -- an interesting if unintentional tribute to the man's software itself. ("Unofficial Bill Gates Website," 1996) Although nonproprietary software such as Linux has made some inroads into the Gates Empire, it is but a proverbial drop in the proverbial bucket of this man's wealth and influence.

Biography

According to the official Microsoft website that chronicles his life and times, Bill H. Gates was born on Oct. 28, 1955, Gates grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. ("Biography: Bill Gates," 2004) His beginnings were as unpretentious as they were low-tech. Gates' father, William H. Gates II, was a Seattle attorney. The Gates' children late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International. Thus Gates was not 'to the manner born,' despite his current great wealth, although his mother's altruism may sponsor his current foundation and the spirit of volunteerism the foundation is designed to foster.

Now, as chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential, Gates oversees a company with revenues of U.S.$36.84 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2004, and employs more than 55,000 people in 85 countries and regions, an impressive achievement, one might say, for a young man from a small town. Nor were Gates' parents particularly interested in computers, although they were professionals and academically oriented. Gates attended public elementary school and the private Lakeside School for secondary schooling. There, at Lakeside, he discovered his interest in software and began programming computers at the age thirteen. (Mirick, 1996)

Soon Gates and the others started running into problems with the faculty of his high school, a conflict with academic authority that was to dog him for the rest of his life. He admits that at the time his homework was being turned in late if at all, and that he and his friends were often cited for skipping classes to be in the computer room (Wallace, 1992, p. 24) Typical behavior for computer geeks, one might sniff -- except for the fact that, while still in high school, Gates produced a small computer that was used to help measure traffic flow by the local law enforcement authorities, a project that grossed around $20,000 and helped pay for the start of Gates' undergraduate education. (Wallace, 1992, pp. 24-25)

In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman. In a coincidence to go down in computer software history, he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer. Ballmer is now Microsoft's chief executive officer. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer - the MITS Altair.

These were the beginnings of the empire, but the development of the language and the microcomputer did not come with ease -- or without some deceit on the part of Gates. (Wallace, 1992, p. 59).

Now, Gates admits that he was floundering at Harvard. First, he had no idea what he wanted to study, so he was enrolled as a pre-law major, with little access to the university's stellar science and computer faculties. Also, Gates took the standard freshman courses with the exception of signing up for one of Harvard's toughest math courses. He did well academically in these courses, but just as in high school, his heart was not in his studies, but in the developing world of computers. (Wallace, 1992, pp. 50-59)

Gates was spending more and more time at Harvard's computer center, not its liberal arts libraries. "He would spend many long nights in front of the school's computer and the next days asleep in class. His best friend from high school, Paul Allen and Bill Gates remained in close contact even with Bill away at school. They would often discuss ideas for future projects and the possibility of one day starting a business. At the end of Gates' first year at Harvard, the two decided that Allen should move closer to him so that they may be able to follow up on some of their ideas. That summer they both got jobs working for Honeywell and Gates' future path seemed set. (Wallace, 1992, p. 59).

By this time Gates had heard of a new, prospective development of something known as 'the personal computer.' At first, he had neither a concept for what was to become his first model, the Altair, nor the chip that ran the computer. But when he heard the project was in development, from monitoring computer trade magazines, he contacted the company that was in the nascent stages of negotiating with developers of the Altair technology, and said that he did. (Wallace, 1992, p. 59). When Gates had called MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems), the makers of the Altair. He told the company that he and Allen had developed a BASIC that could be used on the Altair. "This was a lie. They had not even written a line of code." (Teamgates.com, 1996).

The MITS Company negotiating with other computer engineers for what was to become the Altair did not know that Gates was bluffing -- the company had no reason to know his boast was a lie. Thus, they said they were very interested in seeing the new BASIC language and technology Gates was developing. So, Gates and his friend Paul Allen "began working feverishly on the BASIC they had promised" to produce for MITS. The code for the program was left mostly up to Bill Gates while Paul Allen began working on a way to simulate the Altair with the school's PDP-10. (Wallace, 1992, pp. 59-60).

Eight weeks later, Paul Allen arrived at MITS and tested the BASIC program at the company's Altair. The company executives watching this process were not aware that this was the first time Allen had ever touched an Altair ever in his life, and he had no idea of BASIC was compatible with its structure. If the Altair simulation he designed or any of Gates' code was faulty, the demonstration would most likely have ended in failure. "This was not the case, and the program worked perfectly the first time." (Wallace, 1992, p. 80).

Security Problems regarding Microsoft Technology

Criticisms of Microsoft's way of doing business remain, and also of the Microsoft mainframes itself. The anti-trust case before the Supreme Court excoriated Microsoft for its use of Internet browser technology that was incorporated into the software system, thus encouraging, it was alleged, new users to make use of Microsoft Internet Explorer, rather than 'exploring' other, non-Microsoft options. Also, security issues are of a concern. Gates himself admits, "ensuring that all these systems are reliable and secure will be a high priority for many years," for Microsoft. For instance, in developing its new "Windows XP," Microsoft trained 500,000 it professionals worldwide on security technology and best practices and included such services as Windows Update so that users could quickly distribute security patches across vast networks. (Gates, "The Enduring Magic of Software," Information Week, October 18, 2004)

Despite these innovations, however, Gates has acknowledged in a public 'internal email' published on the Microsoft website, that the spread of Internet hackers, perhaps many of them enterprising and computer obsessed young men like his former adolescent self, have "put new demands on it professionals and consumers to take preventative measures, and on the technology industry to continue to innovate and develop new solutions. "The kinds of threats are evolving too. Blaster, for example, hijacked individual computers, turning innocent users into unknowing and innocent worm propagators. These kinds of attacks," known as swarming attacks "that are coordinated to cause multiplied, cascading effects" have changed the landscape of security threats to the Microsoft System. (Gates, "Executive email -- Security." Microsoft Official Website, March 31, 2004)

Philanthropy

But even Gates' harshest critics cannot fault his philanthropic impulses. Although he has accumulated great wealth, he has also given much of that wealth away. Gates. He and his wife, Melinda Gate have endowed a foundation with more than $27 billion dollars "to support philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health and learning, with the hope that in the 21st century, advances in these critical areas will be available for all people. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed more than $3.2 billion to organizations working in global health; more than $2 billion to improve learning opportunities, including the Gates Library Initiative to bring computers, Internet Access and training to public libraries in low-income communities in the United States and Canada; more than $477 million to community projects in the Pacific Northwest; and more than $488 million to special projects and annual giving campaigns." ("Biography: Bill Gates," 2004) the emphasis on research and education for this foundation has earned praise from voices as diverse as Bill Clinton, amongst others, and it truly, many have said, not merely distributes funds, enabling individuals to 'eat for a day,' but teaches those who are the recipients of its funds how to fish for deeper knowledge in the world.

Conclusion

Love him or hate him, you cannot escape the enterprise he spawned. Gates revolutionized and standardized proprietary software, and continues to expand his empire's reach to include search engines and music downloading. He remains brash, eager, and able to capitalize upon the opportunities of the marketplace, and willing to offend to gain riches and exposure. The combination may prove irritating to his competitors, and even stymie competition, but one must at least acknowledge the power of personal computing and the contribution Gates has made, even though he did not make his technical or his business contributions alone.