Bill Gates is a lot of things to a lot of people. To some, he's the Harvard dropout who built Microsoft into largest software company in the world, to others, he's the architect of the operating system that touched off the persona computing revolution.
The computer nerd turned boy billionaire who's powerful enough to affect industry with a single decision. But what most people don't know is that Bill Gates is a new dad whose interest in family matters and children intersects at every point with his interest in computing.
In a conversation with Gates one one sunny afternoon in a suite in a Las Vegas hotel during Comdex (the largest computer industry trade show), we talked about a range of issues from kids and computers, to the digital generations gap, to parental guidance on the Web, new technologies and the importance of marrying optimism with a healthy realism and the tackled them all with an enthusiasm that shows he hasn't lost the intense curiosity that started it all.
Kids and Computers
Gate's childhood forays into computing involved rented time on a big time sharing mainframe computer, it was basically simple text scrolling across a dumb terminal screen. So, after three days of high profile keynote speeches at a show displaying the state of the art in computer hardware and software. I was curious what would Bill Gates be like if he were a kid growing up with today's technologies ?
Enjoying the chance to lose himself in being a kid again, Gates said, "I'd probably be out (on the Net) seeing what the latest sequencing data is or checking out the Human Genome Project or what the latest physics experiments were. Compared to studying physic, chemistry, and astronomy, computers were easy to understand".
Ask a kid, Gates and boyhood pal Pan Allen (who joined him in founding Microsoft in 1975) spent lot of time teaching their peers to program. Today, the Internet has grown so big and so pervasive that Gates sees himself and Allen in a different childhood computing role, "We'd probably be teaching them how to create Internet sites", Gates said, pointing out that kids are curious about whatever they find in their world. Parents, on the other hand can be reluctant about trying new things a feeling they have to get over if they want to get involved in their kids educations.
As a tail-end baby boomers, Gates is old enough to understand the implications of a digital generation gap, yet he's young enough to be perplexed by it. "Anyone at any age who's willing to spend a few days being a bit confused and frustrated can learn about computers", he said. "It's simply a matter of your willingness to go through the process".
Kids basically have an easier time than adults because they're learning new stuff all the time and are used to being "confused all the time", he said with knowing grin. "I've never heard a kid say, "Oh, I might not be good at this".
He sees computing as an important social activity parents and kids can do together. According to him, parents are "asking for a generations gap" if they don't get involved. "I don't understand the reluctance (to learn to use computers), especially if parents really want to be involved in their kid's education", he said. "It's another opportunity to learn together like reading the same book or doing sport or camping".
Parenting in High-Tech Times
Over the years, Gates has commented openly about his own family's influence in creating an educational, stimulating environment for him. He attributes his interest in computers to the fact that his mother and other members of the Mother's Club at Lakeside School raised money so they could rent time for him on a time-sharing computer system.
What the Mother's Club did for him, parent who are learning about computers, software, and Internet are doing for their kids today, introducing them to a world of knowledge that gives them a chance to explore those things that animate them. But what about kids who don't have access to these wonderful new technologies. Does Microsoft have a responsibility to address the technology gap between the high-tech haves and have not ?
Gate admits some concern about the gap, but he quickly draws an analogy between today and the day's when books were available only for the wealthy and points out that it took out that it took a long time for libraries, governments, philanthropists and school to make book available too all.
In The End
What are the trade-offs, then ? Computing can steal time away from other pastimes, kids on the Internet may be wandering onto inappropriate sites and the cost of technology is high. In the end, Gate's new found mix of optimism and realism in the world of computing comes through. It's a perspective that will server him well as a parent.
"It's easy for these controversial topic to get in the way", Gates said. "Sure, if you buy a machine now, there all come a point where it's not cool enough and sure the kids might go out on the Internet and become exposed to something they're not supposed to but you have to weigh that against the notion that this kid can explore the world of knowledge in a far better way than even the most privileged kid could 30 year ago".
From where Bill Gates sits, what we're seeing in computer revolutions these days it not only improvement in technologies but also a "fantastic opportunity (for parent) to let their kids explore and to do it together".
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