Stay in school

I
READ LAST WEEK THAT BILL GATES, Microsoft founder, billionaire philanthropist and ubergeek, is to speak at a “commencement ceremony” at Harvard, the college he attended before the direction of his life became clear and he headed off to seek his fortune making brown music players.
I have to admit I don’t exactly know what a “commencement ceremony” is. I don’t know whether it’s when the students are starting their studies or when they’re graduating or somewhere in between. Maybe it’s just a bit of friendly advice before they head off on spring break – another American university tradition I don’t quite understand.
What I do know about a “commencement ceremony” is that a famous personage is called upon to make a speech, and in return for bestowing upon these young malleable minds the wisdom of the more experienced, the speaker is awarded an honorary degree.
This means that Gates, who famously dropped out of Harvard to take his seat in the Inner Circle of the Illuminati, will get a degree from that college without having finished his studies.
I can imagine the speech now: “Nyeah nyeah”. It’s brief but would make the point.
Now, I’ve seen words printed to the effect, “You can’t really fault Gates for dropping out, given his success”. I must say I disagree in the profoundest terms. Had Gates completed his Harvard studies he would quite likely have been much more successful than he is.
Not possible, you say? Think about this: Gates didn’t write Windows. He didn’t write Word. He didn’t write DOS. He didn’t write Excel. None of these cornerstones of his success was the product of his labour. He quit Harvard to write languages – BASIC for the Atari 400, and so on. How many people still program their own computers?

Everything else happened to him because he has good business instincts and a ruthless nature – both of which would likely have been enhanced, not dulled, by a Harvard education.

Then think about the millions, nay billions, of dollars that should be in shareholders’ pockets – even Gates’ pockets – but are instead keeping lawyers warm at night. Or being paid out in lawsuits, legal settlements and purchases of patents to avoid legal actions.

If Gates had finished Harvard, it’s altogether possible he would have come out of it with some understanding of anti-trust law. Wouldn’t that have come in handy?

Here’s another thing. The lovable ragamuffin we know as Bill Gates is actually William H Gates III. His father was William H Gates II. His father before him was William H Gates I. His father before him was William H Gates.

Read that paragraph again, and see if you noticed what I noticed.

If Bill had finished Harvard, he might have been the first in his family who could count.

bill gates matthew jc powell software