The End of An Era

Last Friday, June 27th, marked the end of an era. What era, you ask? Then obviously your homepage isn't set to msn.com or msnbc.com, as it was splashed all all over there late last week.

I'm referring to the retirement of Microsoft's Bill Gates. I wouldn't really consider myself a geek, even if I am one of the 10 types of people in the world that understand binary. (You techies will get the joke). I like Bill Gates. I'll admit I'm biased, because he put bread on my table and kept a roof over my head for several years when we lived down in Seattle. He was Microsoft's front-man and epitomized "geekdom". (Is that a real word?) Bill Gates and Microsoft: it's hard to imagine one without the other. He showed that "The Geeks will inherit the earth." I remember a very funny sketch from "The Royal Canadian Air Farce" where the Air Farce's character of Bill Gates claimed he was going to rename the US the "United Gates of America" and rename Mexico, "El Microsofto". He concluded his speech by yelling, "Geek Power!! Geek Power!!" It was priceless; I almost fell out of my chair laughing.

If you are interested at all in things "geeky" and "techy", I recommend you watch, "The Pirates of Silicon Valley" - a made-for-tv movie starring Anthony Michael Hall ("Sixteen Candles")as Bill Gates and Noah Wylie ("E.R.") as Apple's Steve Jobs. I also recommend "The Triumph of the Nerds," a documentary that tells a similar story.

Two years ago, Gates announced that he would eventually be leaving the company he founded in 1977 with friends Paul Allen and Steve Balmer. Bill, having conquered the technology world, now had his sights set on finding a cure for AIDS. Bill and his wife, Melinda, founded the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, which has been donating money for years to worthy causes: immunization, education, etc.

I admire anyone that makes it to the top and then gives back to the world. If Bill is as successful in finding a cure for AIDS and malaria as he has been with revolutionizing the way we use computers (they're not just for geeks anymore) he'll do very well. I wish him all the best. Good luck, Bill.