Bill Gates Remembers 1979 310
Hugh Pickens writes "Last week Gizmodo had a special celebration of 1979, the last year before a digital tsunami hit, that put Bill Gates in a nostalgic mood this week. Bill chimed in with his own memories of that seminal year when everything changed. 'In 1979, Microsoft had 13 employees, most of whom appear in that famous picture that provides indisputable proof that your average computer geek from the late 1970s was not exactly on the cutting edge of fashion,' wrote Gates. 'By the end of the year we'd doubled in size to 28 employees. Even though we were doing pretty well, I was still kind of terrified by the rapid pace of hiring and worried that the bottom could fall out at any time.' What made Gates feel a little more confident was that he began to sense that BASIC was on the verge of becoming the standard language for microcomputers. 'By the middle of 1979, BASIC was running on more than 200,000 Z-80 and 8080 machines and we were just releasing a new version for the 8086 16-bit microprocessor. As the numbers grew, we were starting to think beyond programming languages, too, and about the possibility of creating applications that would have real mass appeal to consumers.' Gates remembers that in 1979 there were only 100 different software products that had more than $100 M in annual sales and all of them were for mainframes. 'In April, the 8080 version of BASIC became the first software product built to run on microprocessors to win an ICP Million Dollar Award. Today, I would be surprised if the number of million-dollar applications isn't in the millions itself' writes Gates. 'More important, of course, is the fact that more than a billion people around the world use computers and digital technology as an integral part of their day-to-day lives. That's something that really started to take shape in 1979.'"
Dr. Who (Score:5, Funny)
13 x 2 â 28 (Score:5, Funny)
"In 1979, Microsoft had 13 employees [...] By the end of the year we'd doubled in size to 28 employees."
With arithmetic like that no wonder Windows is the sleek model of perfection it is...
Summer of 79 by Bill Gates (Score:5, Funny)
Bought it at the CompUSA
Coded 'til my fingers bled
It was summer of '79
Me and some guys from school
Had a company and we tried real hard
Jimmy quit and Jody got married
I shoulda known we'd never get far
Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Ya - I'd always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life
The original bit Bill was going to lead with- (Score:5, Funny)
I got one from him back in 1975 (Score:4, Funny)
Dear Sir,
Good day and compliments. This letter will definitely come to you as a huge surprise, but I implore you to take the time to go through it carefully as the decision you make will go off a long way to determine the future and continued existence of the entire members of my family.
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is William Gates, the 2nd husband of the widow of the late head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces of the federal republic of Nigeria who died on the 8th of June 1975.
My ordeal started immediately after her husband's death on the morning of 8th June 1975, and the subsequent take over of government by the last administration. The present democratic government is determined to portray all the good work of her late husband in a bad light and have gone as far as confiscating all her late husband's assets, properties, freezing our accounts both within and outside Nigeria. As I am writing this letter to you, my son Mohammed Abacha is undergoing questioning with the government. All these measures taken by past/present government is just to gain international recognition.
I and the entire members of my family have been held incommunicado since the death of her husband, hence I seek your indulgence to assist us in securing these funds. We are not allowed to see or discuss with anybody. Few occasions I have tired traveling abroad through alternative means all failed.
It is in view of this I have mandated DR GALADIMA HASSAN, who has been assisting the family to run around on so many issues to act on behalf of the family concerning the substance of this letter. He has the full power of attorney to execute this transaction with you.
Her late husband had/has Eighty Million USD ($80,000,000.00) specially preserved and well packed in trunk boxes of which only my husband and I knew about. It is packed in such a way to forestall just anybody having access to it. It is this sum that I seek your assistance to get out of Nigeria as soon as possible before the present civilian government finds out about it and confiscate it just like they have done to all our assets.
I implore you to please give consideration to my predicament and help a widow and her new husband in need.
May Allah show you mercy as you do so?
Your faithfully,
William H. Gates III
N/B: Please contact Dr Galadima Hassan on this e-mail address for further briefing and modalities
Re:BASIC is good. (Score:2, Funny)
20 $i = 1;
30 while ($i != 10) {
40 $i++;
50 }
Re:Bill Gates wrote to me for money in 1976 (Score:5, Funny)
You mean, vast and successful?
Just kidding!!! *ducks*
-dZ.
Re:Dr. Who (Score:3, Funny)
Re:13 x 2 â 28 (Score:2, Funny)
"In 1979, Microsoft had 13 employees [...] By the end of the year we'd doubled in size to 28 employees."
With arithmetic like that no wonder Windows is the sleek model of perfection it is...
Yeah! He should have said "By the end of the year our employees increased by 2.153 times". But nooooo! He had to use an approximation when telling his story.Yep, it's proof that he's just incredibly unintelligent and incapable of writing good software! /sarcasm
Jackass.
Re:Dr. Who (Score:2, Funny)
And a lightning bolt. You need the lightning bolt to charge the flux capacitor, unless you happen to have a fusion reactor on hand....
Re:Dr. Who (Score:3, Funny)
Just don't also decide to go back and take care of Hitler. Everyone does that their first time and it is annoying to have to go back and fix it.
Re:Bill Gates wrote to me for money in 1976 (Score:3, Funny)
You know, if you take all of your sour grapes and start a winery, you'd be very successful.
Just saying.
Re:Dr. Who (Score:2, Funny)
Well, mathematically, yes.
Re:Dr. Who (Score:4, Funny)
Is one multi-billionaire philanthropist worth a thousand multi-millionaire philanthropists?
Yes one multi-billionaire philanthropist is worth exactly a thousand multi-millionaire philanthropists.
Re:Dr. Who (Score:4, Funny)
Re:That can't be true. (Score:3, Funny)
Right, those iPods and iPhones sit like lead on the shelves, despite being superior to everything else in the market...
Re:Dr. Who (Score:3, Funny)
87mph ought to be enough for anyone.
Re:Dr. Who (Score:2, Funny)