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A Biography of the man who started Microsoft�
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This is a report intended to find the truth about William Gates, III. I have searched through many sources and found much contradicting evidence. Specifically, sources completely glorify him or completely put him down. From those sources I have compiled this report; this report puts together fact, possibilities, probabilities, and the result is what is most likely fact and a little of my own opinion. Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 to Mary and William Gates, II. His father was an attorney in Seattle, WA and his mother was a teacher. He attended the elite Lakeside private school, where he first got to a computer. His first program was a tic-tac-toe game on a mainframe that the school bought after a fund-raiser. He and his 3-year-older friend, Paul Allen, were always busy clanking away at the machine whenever they could get a chance. When they were older, they paid up to $40 an hour to use a terminal at computer companies, sort of like today�s Cybersmith stores. Bill was accepted into Harvard University in Fall, 1973. He slacked off a lot, trying to get the highest grades by putting in the least amount of time. His roommate, Steve Ballmer, became his new friend, and they slacked off together and joined the equivalent of a fraternity. It seems to me that all of this was some bogus attempt to be a �cool� college student. In his second year, he dropped out of college and started Microsoft with Paul. But during college, Bill and Paul were always looking out for new opportunities. When Intel produced a new microprocessor in 1974, named the 8008, they wasted no time in learning to program the new chip. They figured the chip could not go much further than mathematical calculations because of its lack of power. So, instead of just ignoring it, they used it. They used it in a machine that counted the cars that went by. Their first company was named �Traf-o-Data�. Traf-O-Data did not prove profitable. He suspects that it was because it was just a couple of teenagers trying to sell a box. People were interested, but did not buy a single box. Then, a new chip came out about a year later, the 8080. It contained about 2,700 more transistors, and its successor, the 8088, was used in the first PC�s (personal computers) made. The pair instantly recognized that if chips could be so small and more powerful than a room full of computer a decade before, computers would soon become a lot smaller. Other companies didn�t see it this way. But Bill was right. Now, practically all computers use a microprocessors. When Bill dropped out of college, he did so to start a company that eventually became known as Microsoft. It started in Albuquerque, NM in 1975. It was located near the manufacturer of a new computer, called the Altair 8800. It was basically the first inexpensive personal computer sold to the public. One of the first programs they created was Altair BASIC. This is a program that allows other people to easily program the Altair. In 1978, a man named Kazuhiko Nishi called Bill. He read about Microsoft and was interested in its software. A few months later, he went to Microsoft where the two made a deal. Nishi paid $150M mainly for exclusive rights to license MS-BASIC in Asi
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� YESTERDAY� !
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Yesterday,
All those backups seemed a waste of pay.
Now my database has gone away.
Oh I believe in yesterday.
Suddenly,
There's not half the files there used to be,
And there's a milestone hanging over me
The system crashed so suddenly.
I pushed something wrong
What it was
I could not say.
Now all my data's gone
and I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay.
Yesterday,
The need for back-ups seemed so far away.
I knew my data was all here to stay,
Now I believe in yesterday.
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