Bill Gates !! An inspiration for everyone !!

I think that Bill Gates is one of the smartest persons who has ever taken birth on earth. Not only is he smart, the kind of impact that he has made on the people all around the world and the people surrounding him is just huge. In fact it so huge that some times it seems unbelievable.

Everyone knows that he dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft. The company which revolutionized the computer software industry. Prior to that people had not even imagined that the existence of a software company as a standalone entity was possible. At that time, the big players in the computer industry were IBM and Apple. IBM used to make both its software and hardware and so did Apple(as it does till this day). Software companies did exist in small numbers but none had the kind of vision that Bill Gates provided Microsoft with. Writing the Basic language compiler to partnering with IBM to build the operating system for personal computers, Microsoft did a whole lot of innovation under him.

Microsoft's operating system Windows became the default operating system of the world and Bill Gates became the richest person in the world. Microsoft became a household name and was(is?) recognized as the force which determined what software is going to be created in future. There have been some objections of monopoly on Microsoft but the impact that it have had on the whole generation of computer users can not be denied.

Today as the person running the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, he has been urging all the billionaires of the world to donate half of their money to the people of the world. His organiztion has definitely been instrumental in mobilizing a large number of rich businessmen towards donating large chunks of money to the poor. His work is again making a huge impact for the whole world.

I don't think that there can be a better utilization of human life !! First he transformed how the businesses worked and today he is transforming how people live !! GReat life. Wish him success!!

Materialism and Spirituality

There is usually a lot of debate whether spritualism is any better than materialism. We as Indians always feel that spirituality is the better philosphy. But I have huge doubts on that. First of all, what is the purpose of life? That is the question posed by any philosphy. I don't think that any God would want his creations to worship him or just keep on thinking about him. Instead he would be quite proud if his creations could utilize the talents bestowed by him to make the life of other fellow beings easy and comfortable.

Some hundred years back, fans were definitely a luxury. They were not the kind of electrical fans that we use today but were operated by the hands of the servents of the kings. Today technology has enabled everyone to use fans which are far more comfortable than the fans of that era.

A few years back, when I was a kid, phones were a luxury. They were the high maintenance items and hence were used by the upper and upper-middle class of the society. We did not have a single phone at our home and hence depended on our helpful neighbours to provide us with the information. Today every member of my family has a mobile phone. We can communicate whenever we want. Would not God, who is our creator, be extreamly happy on watching what we have been able to achieve with the fabulous brain that he gifted us with. I think he would be, and he should be.

We as human beings are here for a certain period of time. All of us must be born for some real purpose. We must be changing something in here, we must be doing something which outlasts us and becomes our legacy. That thing does not need to be spiritual to be classified as a good thing. That thing can be a beautiful piece of architecture, a wonderful book or even a marvellous computer.

Although sometimes materialism can be bad. The examples of nuclear weapons, attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki etc. are glaring examples where technology has played with the society in a massively destructive way but on the whole the impact of technology has been very positive for the development of humanity. Today, we live a quality of life that could only be dreamt by our forfathers and we have the hard work of engineers and scientists to thank for that.

I think we have made earth, a living heaven!! Atleast some for some of us !! And God would appriciate us for that !!

Creativity and Competition

Sometimes I meet people who say that there is too much competition in today's world. Every area they want to go into seems competitive to them. Especially in a country like India, people think that competition is too much. With the population clearly making it difficult for the country to provide resources to all the people, those who can compete certainly seem to have an edge over those who are wary of competition.
I think that it is a myth that competition is the only way to succeed and create value. In fact I think the quite opposite is true. In my opinion, creativity is the only way to create value and not competition. In fact competition sometimes hinders creativity in a big manner.
For example- When Microsoft and Netscape were seemingly competing with each other, Microsoft was the one that was competing, Netscape was the one that was creating(not competing with any of the Microsoft's technologies). Netscape was actually creating its own technology for instance JavaScript. Netscape went on to create great value for every internet user of the world by being creative. Microsoft by being competitive killed Netscape and hence the great deal of innovation it could have brought about.
Another example- P.C. manufacturers today are competing like anything today. Dell with its low price direct distribution model, Lenevo , Acer , HP and a whole bunch of other manufacturers, they are competing with each other to dominate a market which is overcrowded and does not provide a quality which is deemed essential for a certain level of intellectuals. All of them make huge loads of money by doing so but their profit margins are low. In other words, they have to make a great deal of effort to make the kind of money which they do. Apple on the other hand does not build P.C.s . Instead it builds its own computer for the masses, the Macintosh. The Macintosh is one of the ways in which Apple has displayed the enormous amount of creativity that is possible in delivering a great consumer experience. The other areas in which Apple has shown a great deal of creativity is building of the iPod, the iPad and its own operating system, the iOS. Today it is raking in huge amounts of profits for the creativity that it has displayed. Today, it is the technology company which has the largest market capitalization leaving the competitive Microsoft way behind!!

Whoever says competition wins, say to them , its always been creativity that has been the real winner!!