Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 27th Jun 2008 18:10 UTC
The web is abuzz with articles related to Bill Gates' retreat from Microsoft, and the BBC, too, partakes in this buzz. The BBC decided to list a few of Bill Gates' and Microsoft's predictions and drastic moves, and came to a list of hits and misses. Five misses, four hits.
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RE: A hit, OK, but maybe just right-place, right-time.
by bousozoku on Mon 30th Jun 2008 04:00
in reply to "A hit, OK, but maybe just right-place, right-time."
Member since:2006-01-23
"There can be little doubt that Microsoft has helped to evangelise desktop computers and got many people using them. Today about 90% of desktop machines run Windows - a testament to the success of the company.
I've always agreed with this sentiment. I have applauded Bill Gates for having the vision that others apparently lacked.
But now I'm rethinking this. Bill Gates clearly has lots of natural business ability that he needed to get where he is today. But wasn't an awful lot of Microsoft's success just due to being at the right place at the right time? If he had never been born, are we to believe that the desktop PC would not have the dominance it has today?
I've decided to believe there was an inevitableness to the PC. "
Well, if Gary Kildall (Digital Research) or his wife had signed the agreement with IBM, NDA included, it would have been a very different story.
Digital Research had a very usable GEM GUI available long before Microsoft, though the lawsuit with Apple took a lot of the bite out of it. However, had DR become much bigger due to the IBM PC and clones, by 1986, they might have reached a much better agreement with Apple.
Member since:
2005-07-18
I've always agreed with this sentiment. I have applauded Bill Gates for having the vision that others apparently lacked.
But now I'm rethinking this. Bill Gates clearly has lots of natural business ability that he needed to get where he is today. But wasn't an awful lot of Microsoft's success just due to being at the right place at the right time? If he had never been born, are we to believe that the desktop PC would not have the dominance it has today?
I've decided to believe there was an inevitableness to the PC.