Bill Gates

Well, people, when they would hear us say a computer on every desk and in every home running Microsoft software, they were like, you kids are really out of it. I mean, every desk, every home, what would people do with these things? But because the chips were improving exponentially, doubling every couple of years, it allowed us to think of the computing part as essentially being free.

And so the only thing that would hold you back is, okay, can you help people with photographs? Can you help them with documents? Can you help them stay in touch with people far away or find information? And we knew over time that as these things got better, it would be part of the mainstream. And so as people sort of came around to that, they were like, wow, whether it's at work or at home,

And so the only thing that would hold you back is, okay, can you help people with photographs? Can you help them with documents? Can you help them stay in touch with people far away or find information? And we knew over time that as these things got better, it would be part of the mainstream. And so as people sort of came around to that, they were like, wow, whether it's at work or at home,

This is just part of how people do things. And we wanted to get it out to everyone, students everywhere, even in the countries that are low income.

This is just part of how people do things. And we wanted to get it out to everyone, students everywhere, even in the countries that are low income.

Well, it definitely confounded them that sometimes I was pushing back in a pretty tough way, as though we were in some competition. They would hear from teachers, and they were very good about staying in touch with my teachers. Some teachers would say this kid should be skipped ahead one or two grades. Some teachers would say this kid should be held back. So that kind of is, what?

Well, it definitely confounded them that sometimes I was pushing back in a pretty tough way, as though we were in some competition. They would hear from teachers, and they were very good about staying in touch with my teachers. Some teachers would say this kid should be skipped ahead one or two grades. Some teachers would say this kid should be held back. So that kind of is, what?

Make up your mind. I had one experience where I worked on a report about the state of Delaware, and I ended up doing this 200-page report with the Great Wood Cover while the other kids turned in five or 10-page reports. And it was very embarrassing that I thought, wow, did I kind of overdo this thing? And yet

Make up your mind. I had one experience where I worked on a report about the state of Delaware, and I ended up doing this 200-page report with the Great Wood Cover while the other kids turned in five or 10-page reports. And it was very embarrassing that I thought, wow, did I kind of overdo this thing? And yet

that ability to concentrate would hold me in good stead in terms of reading long books and applying that concentration and curiosity first to cards, then to math, and then finally to software and how would software change the world. But, you know, they never were quite sure what to do.

that ability to concentrate would hold me in good stead in terms of reading long books and applying that concentration and curiosity first to cards, then to math, and then finally to software and how would software change the world. But, you know, they never were quite sure what to do.

And, you know, sending me to a therapist actually ended up being brilliant and sending me to a very nice private school where the classes were a bit smaller and, you know, I could get, I always got an unfair, you

And, you know, sending me to a therapist actually ended up being brilliant and sending me to a very nice private school where the classes were a bit smaller and, you know, I could get, I always got an unfair, you

share of attention from the teachers, you know, we'd have like 15 people in the class, but, you know, almost 20% of the teacher's time in terms of telling me what to read or, you know, marking my writing up, you know, I got an unfair share, partly because my curiosity or energy level, you know, did mark me out in both positive and negative ways.

share of attention from the teachers, you know, we'd have like 15 people in the class, but, you know, almost 20% of the teacher's time in terms of telling me what to read or, you know, marking my writing up, you know, I got an unfair share, partly because my curiosity or energy level, you know, did mark me out in both positive and negative ways.

Well, it was a very rare thing. In fact, the other people coming to him were these couples that were having arguments. And so in a, I hope, privacy appropriate way, he would kind of give me a sense of that. He gave me a few IQ tests. He had me read about Freud and all these things. But slowly but surely, he was saying to me that, fighting your parents really has no purpose.

Well, it was a very rare thing. In fact, the other people coming to him were these couples that were having arguments. And so in a, I hope, privacy appropriate way, he would kind of give me a sense of that. He gave me a few IQ tests. He had me read about Freud and all these things. But slowly but surely, he was saying to me that, fighting your parents really has no purpose.

I mean, they really do love you. They're on your side. You should apply your energy towards other things. And, you know, eventually he made me feel kind of foolish. Like, yeah, why was I taking these, what I thought were kind of arbitrary rules or where my mom would say, you should respect me. And I'd say, well, you know, I don't know. And a little bit as I figured out,

I mean, they really do love you. They're on your side. You should apply your energy towards other things. And, you know, eventually he made me feel kind of foolish. Like, yeah, why was I taking these, what I thought were kind of arbitrary rules or where my mom would say, you should respect me. And I'd say, well, you know, I don't know. And a little bit as I figured out,

I could understand things like playing cards as well or better than my grandmother, or I could read books that had complicated things. I was a bit showing off to saying, because my cognition is good, why should you be able to set arbitrary rules? But anyway, I'm embarrassed when I think about it now. But Dr. Cressy,