"The triumph of the nerds"
"The triumph of the nerds"
Bob X Cringley takes us on a journey back to the beginning of computer. Back to the days when the computer was the size of a gym locker.
A bunch of coke drinking, middleclass guys with glasses the size of a magnifying glass sat down in a garage and together they created history. These "nerds" became founders of one of the world's largest PC companies, Apple. Driven by their own interests, their primary goal was to create a "toy" for themselves. Little did they know, this "toy" later became the world's number one "must-have-gadget".
Apple adopted the idea of the, then, currently existing "build-it-yourself" computer and developed it into the first personal computer ever, the PC. This high-tech creation became a revolutionary success. But those 15 minutes of fame did not last very long because there was another company that also wanted to taste the sweetness of success; IBM. With new programs that were unique for the IBM PC they soon conquered the PC market.
And they all had one man to thank for their success; Bill Gates. He was the one who created the language for all PC's. Instead of typing in a three mile long code just to be able to copy a piece of information, he created pictures instead of words and the PC could now be used in a completly different way.
But besides helping Apple and IBM, Gates had a side project of his own. He is today known as the PC guru, the founder of Microsoft Windows. There is no need to look back in time to see how much Windows has developed. But looking ahead might give you a small insight on how successful this man really is.
I think it is quite impressive that a Harvard dropout Like Bill Gates managed to outsmart the world by creating something so broad and useful. The Microsoft is up til' date dominating the PC industry and therefore the bitterness in Steve Job, co-founder of Apple, is not at all surprising.
I cannot really say that I enjoyed the three hours I spent watching this documentary, but I have to admitt that I now feel a lot more all-round educated. The "geeks" have really made a hell of a job and they deserve all the credit they can get because they have changed my entire world, and probaby yours aswell.
Bob X Cringley takes us on a journey back to the beginning of computer. Back to the days when the computer was the size of a gym locker.
A bunch of coke drinking, middleclass guys with glasses the size of a magnifying glass sat down in a garage and together they created history. These "nerds" became founders of one of the world's largest PC companies, Apple. Driven by their own interests, their primary goal was to create a "toy" for themselves. Little did they know, this "toy" later became the world's number one "must-have-gadget".
Apple adopted the idea of the, then, currently existing "build-it-yourself" computer and developed it into the first personal computer ever, the PC. This high-tech creation became a revolutionary success. But those 15 minutes of fame did not last very long because there was another company that also wanted to taste the sweetness of success; IBM. With new programs that were unique for the IBM PC they soon conquered the PC market.
And they all had one man to thank for their success; Bill Gates. He was the one who created the language for all PC's. Instead of typing in a three mile long code just to be able to copy a piece of information, he created pictures instead of words and the PC could now be used in a completly different way.
But besides helping Apple and IBM, Gates had a side project of his own. He is today known as the PC guru, the founder of Microsoft Windows. There is no need to look back in time to see how much Windows has developed. But looking ahead might give you a small insight on how successful this man really is.
I think it is quite impressive that a Harvard dropout Like Bill Gates managed to outsmart the world by creating something so broad and useful. The Microsoft is up til' date dominating the PC industry and therefore the bitterness in Steve Job, co-founder of Apple, is not at all surprising.
I cannot really say that I enjoyed the three hours I spent watching this documentary, but I have to admitt that I now feel a lot more all-round educated. The "geeks" have really made a hell of a job and they deserve all the credit they can get because they have changed my entire world, and probaby yours aswell.
posted by Mary at 1:05 em
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