Bill Gates And Steve Jobs Essay Example for Free

Bill Gates And Steve Jobs Essay Many people look at Steve Jobs and Bill Gates as two rivals. A lot of opinions can be expressed regarding these two geniuses. The two are celebrities at their own right. Their similarities and differences are emphasized probably because their contributions to the society are both important but are different relative to the other. People were divided as fan of PC and as a fan of Mac. Many people argue that one is better than the other. One type of computer-user says that one is better depending on how you use your computer. For example, gamers find it troublesome to use the Mac while other computer-users find the PC more troublesome than Mac. Although Gates is not Microsoft, as Jobs is not Apple, people commonly think of Gates when we talk of Microsoft, and of Microsoft when we talk about Gates. The same is true for Jobs and his Apple. But how do Gates and Jobs differ from each other? Both were not able to get a college diploma. Despite of that, they were able to become successful and are now household names. They created their own companies which are big companies now, and that goes to show that the two has excellent leadership and managerial skills. Perhaps, their difference lies on their personality and on how they drive their companies to suit the needs of the people. Jobs went to Reed College while Gates went to Harvard. Both Jobs and Gates were college drop-outs. After dropping out from college, Jobs got a job as a technician in a video game manufacturer, Atari. Jobs was given a break when Atari gave him the task to create a circuit board for a video game and he was able to fulfill this task with his friend Wozniak. He got a nice pay with this work. Gates first experience with computers was when he and his friends hack Computer Center Corporation (CCC) to get extra time with the computers. They were caught and were banned by the CCC but, later, CCC hired them to find bugs for their system. Although their job was only to find bugs all over the system, they use their spare time to study about the machines. Jobs did Apple while Gates created Microsoft. The Apple was the first computer to have a graphical user interface and an on-board ROM. Microsoft, as we all know, is very popular software. Both, now, are very wealthy since the day they established their companies. Jobs has CEO position of his company which is a large innovator when it comes to computers, operating systems and softwares. During the beginnings of the apple, Jobs was only a shareholder. Although he was seated as the chairman, the decision of the company was not solely his. He has once left the company to focus not on hardwares but on softwares so he built NextStep. He wanted to have a solution to some computer problems at that time. He wanted to satisfy the needs of education with computers and has once envisioned his new sets of computers to be the computers of college students. He failed on this in a way that the consumers did not want to spend for the latest technology at that time and the NeXTstep computers were really expensive. But the software really helped out programmers so he got good reviews. He, then, formed partnerships with different companies. Apple, then, was getting weaker when Jobs left it. Jobs later returned to Apple some reconsideration. Gates, meanwhile, is a major shareholder of Microsoft. He had never left Microsoft in any way. He was focused on making it big on the market and he was very successful in that. Jobs was focused on innovating. He wanted solutions to problems. He is thinking of the needs of the people when he does his creations. This is his biggest difference with Gates. Gates and Microsoft are interested on marketing. Microsoft is concern on, at least, getting at par with their competitors. If a competitor has done something brilliant, Microsoft would find its way to have a better version of that something brilliant. Gates was often criticized as being more of a businessman than a computer genius. Jobs has once said that it is hurting the computer industry that Microsoft is killing its competitors because that also kills innovation. In fairness to Gates, he gives a lot to those who are needy. He gave millions to institutions in which he believed in. They call Gates a philanthropist for all of his donations to charity. This is one thing admirable to Gates. He has not forgotten about other people. He was sensitive. He gives back what he receives. As a leader, they are both very efficient to create such big companies. They were both able to drive these two companies to success in spite of the many competitions that are coming. They were very good in analyzing the needs of the company and the market. These two individuals show that success comes from determination, right timing, and the drive to attain it. We now have MacBooks with Microsoft in it. In their TV interview, Jobs said that the competition is over between them and that it is time to think of innovations for the future. We should be thankful to these two individuals, who have changed things since their time. We may find them as competitors, but that would be fine for competitions are healthy and it has really made them strive harder to be on top. The competition between the two, if there is, has benefited us. We can expect more from these companies in the near future. Hopefully, they would come up for more things that will make everything more convenient and a solution to security problems. Work Cited: Apple Inc. 2008. Steve Jobs. Retrieved from http://www. apple. com/pr/bios/jobs. html. Brightman, Jason. 2007. After Bill Gates, Five Possible Futures for Microsoft. Retrieved from http://www. pcworld. com/businesscenter/article/147518/after_bill_gates_five_possible_futures_for_microsoft. html. Cobweb Publishing Inc. 2008. The NeXT Years: Steve Jobs Before His Triumphant Return To Apple. Retrieved from http://lowendmac. com/orchard/06/steve-jobs-next-years. html. Mirick, John. 1996. William H. Gates III Before Microsoft. Retrieved from http://ei. cs. vt. edu/~history/Gates. Mirick. html#microsoft.