An Older, Wiser Bill Gates and a World Beyond Windows

Bill Gates has always been an astute observer of the big picture. Thirty years ago when he started talking up his vision of a computer on every desktop, the world was still using the DOS operating system and computers were used by a small cadre of hackers and hobbyists.

As a contemporary of Bill's, I remember sitting in a room full of journalists after he unveiled the first Microsoft Office with the now ubiquitous File/Open/Save structure that would become identical across all of Microsoft's applications. "That'll never fly," I commented to a friend, "People like choices in their application's interface." (At the time wacky interfaces, often psychedelic interfaces like Kai's Power Tools, were everywhere and nothing was standard.) Well, that's why he's there and I'm not.

Many analysts fault Gates for missing the big picture on the Internet and being late to recognize the profundity of its effect on the PC world. But the story they're not telling in today's announcement about Bill's planned exit strategy from the day-to-day of Microsoft, is that he's not missing the big picture on this move. He's way ahead of the game. Ultimately Bill Gates will be better remembered for his work fighting disease than for his work fighting Apple and Google.

According to Pediatrics, the vaccinations that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pay for have already saved 300,000 lives. The Grand Challenges program begun by the Foundation uses competition—a favorite tactic of Bill's—to entice scientists and researchers to pursue groundbreaking innovation. Last year the Gateses and Bono were named Time Magazine's People of the Year, and you'd better believe that it wasn't because of the Windows Service Pack. A look at the New Yorker's photo essay on Healing Africa that accompanied a story on how Gates tackles health issues with the same rigor as he's tackled tech issues is worth the look.

Today's coverage of Bill Gates in the media is seen through the eyes of the effect his departure will have on the Microsoft Corporation. My guess is that two years from now, when Bill makes his move, the news coverage will be much more important.

What are your thoughts? Can Gates make the world a better place?