Bill Gates And His Influence On Society

Bill Gates, one of the most influential men in the world, and leading the way for solving some of the toughest problems in our society. On October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington William Henry Gates III was born. Gates in his childhood was always encouraged by his father to be competitive in all that he did. As a result, teenage Gates developed a curiosity for computers and began writing computer programs. In his college years, Gates enrolled in the prestigious Harvard University, in the fall of 1973 to study law, but later dropped out to pursue his interest in computers. Bill Gates has positively influenced society through his contributions in starting Microsoft, his improvements and innovation for the future with his foundation, and his commitment to dedicate his wealth to philanthropy.

First, Bill Gates has positively influenced society through his contributions in Microsoft. his passion for computers, Gates and his childhood friend, Paul Allen began writing and developing computer programs. As a result, on April 4, 1975, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Gates and Allen co-founded Micro-Soft, which is now called Microsoft. In later years companies such as Apple and IBM, were developing their own computer software, to capture the growing tech market. Gates was surprisingly not worried about his competitors, according to Geof Wheelwright, he states: “Mr. Gates is not particularly worried about any threat from Apple - which is perhaps not surprising, considering Microsoft share in the Macintosh applications market. However, he feels that many Mac software developers are moving to develop under Windows which may eventually cause Apple problems. ” On August 24, 1995, Gates and comedian Jay Leno introduced Windows 95 to the public. Shortly after its launch, Windows 95 succeeded its predecessor Apple. A few years later Microsoft began developing its own gaming console. The company saw the growing consumer-gaming market, and developers would start to testing and developing software, and according to Rick Marshall he states, “The system would run on Windows 2000, making it easy for traditional PC software developers to work within the console’s architecture, and feature more than twice the processing power of the industry-leading PlayStation 2. ” On 2001, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Gates and Dwane Johnson, revealed the first-ever Xbox, and soon after its launch Xbox consoles were flying off shelves. Ever since Xbox has been one of the leading gaming consoles aside from Playstation. Gates's role in Microsoft was as CEO. Gates was on top of his game when he ran Microsoft, according to Taylor Zachary she states, “In the early beginning of Microsoft, Gates would stay up day and night, just to keep the company running. He would even memorize the license plates of his employees to see if who was present during the workday. ” Gates is very particular when it comes to running a business, but in the end, he gets the job done. As time goes on, Gates felt that his role as CEO was not as fun as before. He later steps down as chairman, but still serves as a technology advisor. Despite him stepping down, Bill Gates will always be a key component of Microsoft.

Second, Bill Gates has positively influenced society with seeing a need to help others, and as a result, Bill and his wife Melinda started the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2000. The foundation primes one of its focuses on developing education. Since its founding, the foundation has donated over a billion dollars to help people afford college for the next two decades. They have also donated computers to libraries and schools throughout the United States, to provide internet to those in need. The foundation is also known for impacting world health. According to Clifton Leaf, he states, “The Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation had taken the unusual step of absorbing a $76 million IOU Nigeria owed to Japan, for money Nigeria had borrowed to fund a polio eradication effort. The progress there had been striking. In 2012 the country had more than half of the worldwide cases of this paralyzing disease; that number had since been cut to zero. ” The foundation is leading the way to eradicate deadly disease, and is still working on helping others to live a better and longer life. Gates strives to find better and more efficient ways to do things. One is finding out more ways to get pure water, and with the help of scientists and engineers, they developed The Janicki Omniprocessor. It is a technical innovation according to Amy Boros she says “A machine that turns waste into water. The Janicki OmniProcessor boils and treats feces into clean drinking water, electricity, and ash, with the goal of providing access to safe sanitation to those in developing countries. ” It might seem a little revolting at first, but engineers have engineered the Omniprocessor to make its water taste like regular water. Gates has also looked for more ways to produce energy. In doing so he has helped launch TerraPower. It is a company that is devoted to finding better and safer ways to produce nuclear energy.

Gates has committed most of his wealth into giving back, and in doing so he started The Giving Pledge. It is an organization that commits an individual to devote a majority of their wealth and giving it to a philanthropic or charitable cause. Bill and Melinda Gates are some of many philanthropists, that devote their wealth to the cause. One of the most prominent philanderer is Warren Buffet. In 2006, Buffet pledged a majority of his wealth to the cause. According to an article in 2010, it states ”Thirty-four U. S. billionaires have today pledged to give away at least 50% of their wealth to charity as part of a campaign by investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. ” Ever since its start, many people such as MacKenzie Bezos, Mark Zuckerburg, Priscilla Chan, and many others have devoted their wealth to giving back. In the race to solve the tough problems Gates, has focused his main efforts into developing ways to meet the need. In doing so, every year they can help people transition out of poverty by implicating new business opportunities and investing in impoverished counties and communities. Gates has also influenced people into discovering ways to make the environment better with the help of the organization they have donated over a billion dollars to environmental agencies. Gates pursues for a better and more efficient way to help others one problem at a time

Bill Gates, is one of the influential people in the world because he has influenced the way we use technology, he has helped to improve the quality of life for the poor, and has led the way in giving back to the community. Gates has been driven to see a need and addresses it and in a way he fulfills it. Bill Gates sees the potential of what we as a people can be and strives to make it achievable.