Posted on 10/15/2004 4:33:16 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
BusinessWeek Online The Man Who Could Have Been Bill Gates Friday October 15, 3:58 pm ET By Steve Hamm in New York and Jay Greene in Seattle
The saga of the computing industry is rich with outsize characters and surprising plot turns, but there's one story that has risen over time to mythic proportions. It's the tale of how software pioneer Gary Kildall missed out on the opportunity to supply IBM (NYSE:IBM - News) with the operating system for its first PC -- essentially handing the chance of a lifetime, and control of tech's future, to rival Bill Gates and Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - News). In the process, he may have missed out on becoming the world's richest man. The legend goes like this: One fateful day in the summer of 1980, three buttoned-down IBMers called on a band of hippie programmers at Digital Research Inc. located in Pacific Grove, Calif. They hoped to discuss licensing DRI's industry-leading operating system, CP/M. Instead, DRI founder Gary Kildall blew off IBM to gallivant around in his airplane, and the frustrated IBMers turned to Gates for their operating system. This anecdote has been told so often that techies need only be reminded of "the day Gary Kildall went flying" to recall the rest. While he's revered for his technical innovations, many believe Kildall made one of the biggest mistakes in the history of commerce.
But what if that's not what happened? What if IBM and Microsoft deprived Kildall not only of untold riches but also of the credit for a seminal role in the PC revolution? That's the thesis of a chapter about Kildall in They Made America, a serious coffee table history book by renowned author and former newspaper editor Harold Evans. The book, published by Little Brown on Oct. 12, profiles 70 American innovators and is the inspiration for an upcoming PBS series. And while other tech authors have debunked the gallivanting story before, Evans bases his Kildall chapter on a 226-page, never-published memoir written by Kildall just before his death in 1994. Early on, Kildall seemed to represent the best hopes of the nascent computer industry. But by the time he died at age 52, after falling in a tavern, he had become embittered and struggled with alcohol.
this is an excerpt
I hadn't read too much about Kildall's story, but wasn't he personally flying some product (DRDOS?) out to a business customer who needed it right away?
I hadn't read too much about Kildall's story, but wasn't he personally flying some product (DRDOS?) out to a business customer who needed it right away?
Article written by someone who believes wealth comes from life's lottery -- being in the right place at the right time -- and little else.
If they print it, then it's gotta be true!
Big word here is 'if'.
Like my dear departed loving Mother used to say ...
"IF your Aunt had balls, she'd be your uncle!" :)
Of course this was before sex changes. LOL
I heard Kildall was a real shmuck. He wanted to leave the IBM folks hanging because it gave him a feeling of empowerment. BTW, does anybody know what Mr. Shmuck is doing nowadays?
Interesting. I always knew Gates didn't write the initial program, but hadn't heard about this guy before.
Absolutely. Gates and Microsoft have always been known more for marketing than killer applications. Of course, the applications have gotten a great deal better; I have few complaints about Microsoft products.
But by the time he died at age 52, after falling in a tavern, he had become embittered and struggled with alcohol.
Kinda like the guy who wrote PK-ZIP.
Can this be verified? I remember reading about DOS and Gates acquisition of DOS from Kindall, that Gate's mother was on the Board of Directors of IBM at the time he bought DOS from Kindall.
Insider information can be very useful not only in buying/selling stock, but in the acquisition of products.
Have a good day...
Liberalism/Socialism >> mental AIDS of the brain. Lots of sick puppies out there; usually known as DemoRats.
I heard Kildall was a real shmuck. He wanted to leave the IBM folks hanging because it gave him a feeling of empowerment. BTW, does anybody know what Mr. Shmuck is doing nowadays?Gary Kidall is dead. I forget what disease. I remember from the "Computer Chronicles" and many other articles out of the early 80s. He was a fairly likeable and humble guy around that time. I enjoyed him.
The whole DR/Microsoft thing is a big myth.
The original IBM PC DID NOT COME WITH AN OPERATING SYSTEM.
We're talking IBM here, not Apple. Everything was "unbundled".
You could buy CP/M for about $300, or DOS (as they called it) for $40. I remember scraping together some bucks to buy a PC back then, and that was a big factor in the final price tag.
The end result was the free market at work. Nothing more.
Thought you might like this one.
Cheers,
knews hound
And then there is this guy from Cochran, Georgia, Edward Roberts:
http://www.crn.com/sections/special/hof/hof00.jhtml?articleId=18812196&_requestid=160659
"Now a country doctor, Roberts sparked a wave of innovation in 1974 with the Altair 8800, one of the first personal computers built with an Intel microprocessor. The Altair's life was brief, but Roberts' contribution started a revolution in hardware design and was the first system to run software written by Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen."
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