Hacker News Reader

> If Bill Gates weren’t from such a wealthy family it is likely he wouldn’t have ever attended Harvard.

If Bill Gates weren't from such a well-connected family, it is also likely Microsoft wouldn't have been selected to develop the OS for the IBM PC.

View on HN

genius principle engineer

He was never considered an especially talented developer. He bought the OS that was used for the IBM PC.

I was referring more to potential, as opposed to what he actually did in software development. Per stories from Harvard, he had some mathematical talent. With talent like that he could have essentially pursued whatever intellectual pursuit he wanted and have obtained results in it. Whether that be software development, mathematics, running a business etc. My point is there are others out there like him, we likely won’t know about them because they aren’t from such affluent families.

I suspect Digital research Blowing off IBM had more to do with it

That had to do with CP/M not being the standard/mainline OS for the IBM PC (and even then, CP/M was supported but released 6 months after DOS and for 6 times the price), it didn't have to do with IBM selecting Microsoft as their OS developer / vendor, especially since microsoft didn't even have an OS when they were selected.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com