Steve Jobs And Bill Gates: The Comparison Of Success

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were visionaries who believed in a future in which ‘normal people’ to would use computers for daily tasks and improving workflow. Today, personal computers are an essential part of everyday culture worldwide, and “Apple” and “Microsoft” products are everywhere. But when Gates and Jobs were young men, computers were expensive, large, and used only by a few large corporations and big governments, mostly for data processing. Most of the world’s work was still done on paper, with pens and typewriters. Their vision was not just a quick, but ephemeral, idea; it took Steve Jobs and Bill Gates each years to develop. Although they worked separately and in their own ways, their work often took parallel paths. Together their vision profoundly changed the world.

In 1972, Steve Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, known for its writing programs; however, he dropped out after the first semester. He wanted to pursue different, more interesting experiences. He never studied computers or math. In 1975, Jobs met Steve Wozniak of Hewlett Packard. Wozniak feared that his bosses at HP would appropriate his design for a small computer, but HP dismissed the idea. One year later, Steve Jobs and Wozniak founded Apple Computer Company in Wozniak’s parent’s garage, and began to develop and sell a market version of the Apple 1. This lead to the creation of the Apple II, the first practical, useable form of the desktop computer they had envisioned. As they had envisioned, the system was a self-contained, desktop unit consisting of software developed for the Apple’s specific hardware, and not operable outside of it. Jobs become Apple’s marketing guru, aggressively but suavely selling the Apple II as easy to use, attractive and modern. 

Meanwhile, Bill Gates started out at Harvard studying math and computer science, but he also eventually dropped out. He also was working with Paul Allen in a partnership called Traf-O-Data, which sold a computer traffic analysis software system. The Traf-O-Data program analyzed data from road traffic counters and compiled reports for traffic engineers. This hands-on experience in creating computer programs for focused purposes sparked Gates toward development of computer systems that were easier to use for the public. [[[AGAIN YOU NEED SOMETHING FROM THE MOVIE TO EXPLAIN WHY! WHY DID HE WANT TO DO THIS??]]] By 1978, Microsoft stepped up with its first operating system, and by year-end sales topped one million dollars. The next year, Microsoft changed its BASIC software to work with any hardware based on the 8086 16-bit microprocessor. BASIC not only gave Microsoft computers more computing power and greater programming flexibility, but could be used in other computers. That gave Microsoft a competitive edge over Apple, eventually making Microsoft’s operating system, and the desktop equipment using it , dominant in the marketplace. Apple, meanwhile, was making the Apple I and II, which were not as flexible and used a unique operating system which could not operate outside its own machines.

So, both men had visions that computers could be part of ordinary life, but they made it happen in different ways. Jobs and Apple initially focused on stand-alone units pre-loaded with their own, unique software. While this may eventually have limited the popularity of their desktops–although they still have a loyal following–it shaped Apple into the company its is today, with its many specialized, small products. Gates, on the other hand, created a software operating system that could be used in any 16-bit computer, allowing different computers to effectively communicate with one another. By envisioning and developing, in different ways, the concept of a small, versatile computer that could be used by anyone, these two legends changed the world.