Misleading Myth Making statement : P 37: " ... used a version of the BASIC programming language that had been written by a Harvard drop out, Bill Gates and his sidekick Paul Allen ..."
The language's ambigous style here feeds the myth that Bill Gates invented Basic.
Maybe I am just being pedantic, maybe it is all too late to bother with but it irritates me anyway.
The reality is quite different he just cloned Basic :
"BASIC (standing for Beginner's All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was written (invented) in 1963, at Dartmouth College, by mathematicians John George Kemeny and Tom Kurtzas as a teaching tool for undergraduates. BASIC has been one of the most commonly used computer programming languages, a simple computer language considered an easy step for students to learn before more powerful languages such as FORTRAN.
BASIC's popularity was spread by both Paul Allen and William Gates, in 1975. Gates and Allen (both Microsoft founding fathers) wrote a version of BASIC for the Altair personal computer. It was the first product Microsoft sold. Later Gates and Microsoft wrote versions of BASIC for the Apple computer, and IBM's DOS which Gates provided came with its' version of BASIC."
The history of Microsoft is a history of cloning of other people's ideas and work from day one until today.
Microsoft does not invent/originate anything. Almost everyone of their software products has been a clone or an acquisition. Microsoift is an extremely conservative organisaton it is not a leader in ideas it is a fast follower. Given that 95% of the world is also extremely conservative this default, low risk business strategy has worked very well, unfortunately. But it is soooooo boring !
Apple has a certain originality that Microsoft has never had and probably never will.
This difference really is about the different personalities of Jobs and Gates.
If it was not for Jobs and Woz and ... and Ives and ... many hundreds of highly original inventors, scientists, researchers at numerous universities and corporations that created original ideas there would be nothing for Microsoft to clone or acquire.
Microsoft is really a type of idea parasite feeding off the originality of other people and relying on the conservatism and mental lethargy of the general population. It may have some beneficial side effects but also many toxic side effects.
Steve Jobs is a highly original technology leader and certainly not boring.
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Misleading Myth Making statement : P 37: " ... used a version of the BASIC programming language that had been written by a Harvard drop out, Bill Gates and his sidekick Paul Allen ..."
The language's ambigous style here feeds the myth that Bill Gates invented Basic.
Maybe I am just being pedantic, maybe it is all too late to bother with but it irritates me anyway.
The reality is quite different he just cloned Basic :
"BASIC (standing for Beginner's All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was written (invented) in 1963, at Dartmouth College, by mathematicians John George Kemeny and Tom Kurtzas as a teaching tool for undergraduates. BASIC has been one of the most commonly used computer programming languages, a simple computer language considered an easy step for students to learn before more powerful languages such as FORTRAN.
BASIC's popularity was spread by both Paul Allen and William Gates, in 1975. Gates and Allen (both Microsoft founding fathers) wrote a version of BASIC for the Altair personal computer. It was the first product Microsoft sold. Later Gates and Microsoft wrote versions of BASIC for the Apple computer, and IBM's DOS which Gates provided came with its' version of BASIC."
Reference :
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbasic.htm
The history of Microsoft is a history of cloning of other people's ideas and work from day one until today.
Microsoft does not invent/originate anything. Almost everyone of their software products has been a clone or an acquisition. Microsoift is an extremely conservative organisaton it is not a leader in ideas it is a fast follower. Given that 95% of the world is also extremely conservative this default, low risk business strategy has worked very well, unfortunately. But it is soooooo boring !
Apple has a certain originality that Microsoft has never had and probably never will.
This difference really is about the different personalities of Jobs and Gates.
If it was not for Jobs and Woz and ... and Ives and ... many hundreds of highly original inventors, scientists, researchers at numerous universities and corporations that created original ideas there would be nothing for Microsoft to clone or acquire.
Microsoft is really a type of idea parasite feeding off the originality of other people and relying on the conservatism and mental lethargy of the general population. It may have some beneficial side effects but also many toxic side effects.
Steve Jobs is a highly original technology leader and certainly not boring.