Lakeside school was where Bill Gates got his break to realise his potential and reveal his digital talent inspite of initial lacklustre show. Lakeside School was a private institution, a status symbol for parents to send their children in.
Computer oriented BillThen computer education was not in vogue. Only a few selected schools had that facility. Lakeside school had taken computer time for its students through General Electric Computer. Bill had joined the computer class on impulse or curiosity. Thus Bill got his entry into the computer world. G.E. System (Basic) programming attracted keen interest of Bill.
His excellence and ingenuity in digital subject got the special notice of the organising body of the school. To allow his talent improve further organisers exempted him from attending the mathematical classes which used to clash with computer time. Even during those days basic mathematics used to be a tough challenge in USA and demanded hard work. Bill was very good in mathematics but the introduction to computer had changed the world of young Gates.
Every person in the world has something special about him. Most of the people fail to recognise their special hidden talent. Some find it out and make good of their lives. Bill was one of them who got a right chance to discover the talent nature had gifted him with at the early stage of his life. The credit also goes to his parents William and Mary for allowing Bill to pursue the subject of his choice. Often parents decide what field their child must choose for career without giving any thought to the natural gift of talent he is born with.
William and Mary wisely took the advice of the psychiatrist and accepted his evaluation of Bill. To prove it right the boy showed glimpses of his talent in all subjects at elementary educational level. That is when they decided to enroll Bill in the best school of the city, Lakeside where introduction to the computer pinpointed his extra-special talent the nature had gifted him with.
Bill himself was also lucky to have been born in the Gates family that had prosperous foundation and well educated members to provide enlightened environment. Sometimes lack of material resources and presence of wrong people makes it difficult for a young person to do justice to his talent.
Lakeside School had decided to give its students computer education. But computers were very costly during those days. Even Lakeside could not afford it. It could only arrange for some computer time with necessary infrastructure sponsored by a manufacturer. General Electric did it for a few thousand dollars. The school administration could not assess to what extent the computer had attracted the interest of the students and how useful computer education would prove?
Mother’s Club had sponsored the computer time for the school. When that time was over Bill and his mates had to go elsewhere like DEC-PDP Mini computers and Computer Centre Corporation (CCC) with PDP-10 system. The Lakeside boys availed the free computer time there too. Some mischief mongering students put bugs in the computer operating system to steal more computer time free of cost. When it was discovered, for some time Lakeside boys were banned from those centres. When the ban period ended Bill, Allen and Evans with some other associates offered to CCC that if they were allowed free computer time they would trace the CCC software bugs. The Corporation people agreed and the boys traced out the bugs successfully. In return they got the free computer time. Bill preferred to go to CCC officials to study Source Codes of various programs related to systems instead to learning computer through T type. Bill learnt machine language as well.
Bill Gates, Paul Allen and some other Lakeside students had become so obsessed and addicted to the computers that they were inseparable items. Most of the time they could be found in the computer room. Those computer nuts were so taken over by computer writing programs, study of books on computers and learning ways of enhancing their computer knowledge that they could not complete their normal homework. They were bunking the other classes to be in the computer room. The boys had learnt about computers in a few weeks what was to be otherwise one year course. It was because of their incredible single minded dedication and attraction to the digital magic. Bill and his friends had given the message that in new computer age even students could lead the way and steal march over the old generation people.
1968 was a special year for Bill and his mates because in that year Computer Centre Corporation of Seattle started its business unit. A system of renting out computer time had been begun. The CCC and Lakeside School signed business contract under which the students of that school were give special package of computer education time. The expert programmers of Corporation were to teach the Lakeside students specialised computer programming. Bill Gates and his mates took full advantage of this opportunity. The things were working in their favour.
Bill and his team undertook the task of analysing relative equations of the new electronic tool, computer. It helped them know the basic facts about the computer and its systems. After sometime some young hackers started incapacitating the new computers with virus. Several times they bugged the computers rendering them useless and broke the safety systems and codes. Even the records of the files were altered related to their computer time. But it did not continue for long. The hackers were traced out. The Computer Centre banned them for a period. Thus, they paid the price for their mischief but the same pranks were going to bring good news for them.
During the fag end of 1968 Bill, Allen and their Hacker friends did some computer programming work for the Lakeside School. They decided to find a way to demonstrate their computer skills to the outside world. Their hacking mischief created that opening. Infact, Computer Centre Corporation was running losses due to weak safety system and disruption of frequencies. Then the corporation thought of the unique talents of Bill Gates and his hacker friends.
The Computer Centre Corporation hired them to remove the weaknesses of its systems. For their services the company agreed to allow them unlimited computer time. Bill and his mates accepted the deal. It proves hugely profitable for the boys. They got a chance to understand all the finer points of digital system and its working. The boys fully applied themselves to the computer fiddling. They were hired to solve the bug problem but during that operation Bill Gates managed to study all the things related to computers. The basic knowledge of the computers gained there helped Bill And Allen start their own ‘Microsoft Corporation’ seven years down the line.
Some vital factors
❑ Bill was born in a prosperous and educated family of USA when the circumstances there were very favourable to the evolution of computer yet in a fledgeling stage. The timing was perfect.
❑ Bill’s talent had been spotted at an early age with the help of a right psychologist.
❑ He happened to be enrolled in a right school where he got introduced to computers in student years.
❑ The school exempted Bill from mathematical classes to help him sharpen up his computing skills.
❑ Bill met right boys to befriend who became his associates in his entrepreneurship of Microsoft.
❑ Bill & Co. turned hackers of computer system to get a bad name. But the same mischief became instrumental in getting them recognition as computer whiz kids. And it set up their future.
❑ The boys were serious about computer knowledge and their attraction for the tool was not a temporary puppy love.
❑ Bill had the vision to know that computer was going to run the future world and hence it was the most important tool to get familiar with.
❑ When Bill got introduced to the computer, both were at the same phase of growth and evolution, the former as a growing boy and the latter as evolving tool of mindboggling possibilities. The two found the respective future in each other.
❑ Bill had sound family background. He could start any endeavour without much difficulty.
❑ The timing, circumstances and situations all were in favour of Bill to achieve success if he had the talent.