Will Bill Gates be known in 100 years?

[tytytucke]

Is it far to compare Bill Gates to Da Vinci just to show the differences in how great they where and how long they will be remember? In 100 years I don't believe Bill Gates or Steve Jobs will be well known like Thomas Edison. Really, they help make computers what they are today, but they didn't create something new, they only made it better. I just think they will be known as another great ceo that did some great things for the time. Nothing revolutionary; just making good consumer products.

I think the average person in 60 years will have to look up the name Bill gates or Steve jobs to know who they are.

Does anyone know who Peter Carl Goldmark is? inventor of the color Tv! He made a better TV. I would be surprised if anyone knew who invented the cell phone, riding mower, Smoke detector, etc... These are all common consumer products that we take for granted and none of use really know who invented them.

No disrespect to the great inventors over the years but who really cares who invented what. Not many do, those who do have some short of reason they do (fans of product, etc.)

Bill and Steve are great now, but they are only so popular now because they where CEOs of great company's. People remember Steve going on stage with his black shirt and blue jeans talking about some of the biggest and most popular consumer products of our time. Not because he helped make those consumer products. He was a rock star, he is an idol. People loved seeing him, his complexion and everything about him. He was a cool hippie that made it big. That's why they are making a movie about him. That's why people know him so well.

Am I right? Am I wrong?

[RiverCampher]

Like most things, it'll be buried in time. Someone will refer to them but those growing up (unless specifically interested in computer history) will probably be unaware.

There will more 'big figures' in history before then, each era will have their own idols and famous pioneers to stand on the shoulders of those that have stood before them.

We don't have an inventor of the hover board yet, I forecast that dude will be a legend ;)

[FMH]

I read an article that Bill Gates would be remembered in the third world countries for the next 100 years, and statues would be build to honour him.

Not because of Microsoft, but because of his charitable work.

[typu]

if gates is not a main part of an extremely special invention or cure in his life time he will not be remembered generally at all. of course he will be part of some history compendium in the part about computer science, philantropist extremely wealthy man.

but apart from that, nope. noone with general basic knowledge will have heard of him.

I read an article that Bill Gates would be remembered in the third world countries for the next 100 years, and statues would be build to honour him.

Not because of Microsoft, but because of his charitable work.

yeah well that is how media might tell it. i can assure you, of the regular people in those countries noone has even heard of a man Gates.

in that area of information we are extremely manipulated and misinformed.

[vcfan]

it depends what a computer and software will look like in 50+ years. If the whole concept stays the same, of course they will still be remembered. If computing turns into something completely different, its going to be tough.

[Growled Member]

He will be remembered in a general way but not in the same breath as Einstein or Napoleon.

[Hum]

He'll be mentioned in the Microsoft myth as head sorcerer. :p

[Phouchg]

The same way John D. Rockfeller is...

[Defcon]

The sad truth is an egomaniac control freak like Steve Jobs who spent his life stealing from others, giving nothing back and being completely selfish, is viewed as a visionary who 'changed the world', and thus myth is likely to continue.

[Growled Member]

I don't see Steve Jobs being remembered any more than Gates a 100 years from now.

[tytytucke]

The same way John D. Rockfeller is...

I had written up a well thought out and researched response to your comment, but was lost accidently when I closed the wrong tab.

It could not be recovered.

But basically I don't think they compare because Rockfeller made history. He did things on the larger scale which nobody could compare to at the time. Bill gates hasn't even donated enough to stand out from donations made in recent years like Rockfeller did. Rockfeller had a lot more money to spend than Bill does. I don't have much to back this up because I'm not re writing my perfect response, but I had to give something. Also who is this Paul Allen? =-p

[123456789A]

Bill Gates will be remembered for eternity as the man who ate chicken with a spoon.

[astropheed Veteran]

Of course he will be, but not always for the reasons you would associate with him now. He'll be remembered for hundreds of years.

[chrisj1968]

he will be mentioned. I remember that the 1980's and 1990's MS was an innovative warhorse. Everything revolved around MS. when Win95 came out,I remember the massive media blitz and seeing video of many people waiting in line to purchase the new Desktop OS. Bill Gates has contributed ALOT to computing and alot of it may be good or bad, depending on what side of the fence you are standing on in this debate but

Bill Gates WILL be remembered as a pioneer and leader of Microsoft. Microsoft has done alot for computing..yes, he will mostly be remembered by reference to MS mostly for the 80's and 90's.

[Caleo Global Moderator]

Bill Gates is a little more comparable to Henry Ford than Da Vinci. Have we forgotten about Henry Ford?

[Atomic Wanderer Chicken]

I think Bill Gates will be mostly known more for creating Microsoft and Windows and partly for his charity work! People in 100 years will say " I remember Bill Gates, he created Microsoft and WIndows"! Steve Jobs on the other hand will be known as the person who brought Apple back up.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I think Bill Gates will be mostly known more for creating Microsoft and Windows and partly for his charity work! People in 100 years will say " I remember Bill Gates, he created Microsoft and WIndows"! Steve Jobs on the other hand will be known as the person who brought Apple back up.

People in 100 years will be straight out of the movie "idiocracy" so they won't remember much of anything.

[cropcircles]

If it hadn't been Gates, Jobs and Wozniak that brought about the computer age it would of been three other weird kids in a garage. Einstein was a wacked out genius. Look at the guy

Ben Franklin was a a politician and one of the greatest inventors of all time. Gates and Jobs are inventors but it was Wozniak that should of gotten more credit then both of them.

[tytytucke]

Who's to say Microsoft or Apple will even be around in 20 years? Big giant corporations have fallen before. The technology market is a fast changing environment and under bad leadership a ship will reach the bottom of an ocean before help ever arrives.

Just because someone is well know today, does not mean they will be forgotten tomorrow. It happens every decade. Seriously what has Bill Gates done to make History? and why would an average person know who Bill Gates is in 100 years from now? how would Paul Allen's legacy compare?

Bill Gates was just another rich ceo

Computers and software have evolved far beyond what they where in the 70s & 80s. Microsoft only further advanced what was already in place.

There are many tech company's that made great leaps that are more important stepping stone than what Microsoft has done.

This is not a popularity contest.

[adam7288]

In 100 years, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs will seem like relics of the past. People will be "taught" that they were important much in the same way we today are taught that Edison and Henry Ford were important. Remembered by repetition and drills.

Bill will not be their contemporary, there will be a striking irrelevance to his name, or anyone who is alive today, for that matter. The discussion will change, it will be about what is NOW. And the "now" will be five generations turned over since the present time in which this post is written.

You see how fast the discussion of what is "important" changes now. A twitter post can make headline news. Multiply this accelerating trend times a billion, and you will see that in the not-so-distant future, nothing is timeless. Truly. Everything becomes disposable and transient. That includes the legacies of giants.

[Phouchg]

Bill Gates is a little more comparable to Henry Ford than Da Vinci. Have we forgotten about Henry Ford?

Why? You can have any Office you like, as long as it's Microsoft :laugh:

[Dan~]

Of course he will. Microsoft will still be around, as will Bill Gates, he might be Robo Gates though by then...

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Will Bill Gates be known in 100 years?

Yes, he surely will be.

1. He created a company that captured up to 90% of the most dynamic market of the time and managed to hold on to it for decades;

2. He played a crucial role in bringing PC's to the masses for both business and personal uses, de facto creating the industry.

3. He was the wealthiest man on the planet for many years at the turn of the centuries.

4. He made donations on a scale not seen before.

[tytytucke]

You see how fast the discussion of what is "important" changes now. A twitter post can make headline news. Multiply this accelerating trend times a billion, and you will see that in the not-so-distant future, nothing is timeless. Truly. Everything becomes disposable and transient. That includes the legacies of giants.

That's exactly what I'm getting at. Its almost as if you have to kill off a country to be known for generation. Perhaps Bill might be in a computer science history books, but the average person probably won't even know half the people in any history book. Bill accomplished some great things, but so did Martin Cooper. Please go ask someone who Martin cooper is. There is a good chance they don't know who he really is. I would say he is as important as Bill Gates and what they did for the consumer market.

Bill Gates is living in the now and before we know it there we be someone else we look up to and next the generations won't know who Bill was because now its all about this John Doe guy. 50 years of Bill gates maybe, 100 years I doubt it.

A personal computer could be obsolete or irreverent in a decade. If you look how far technology has moved in the last 20 years that statement could easily be possible. I do plan on taking my jet car to work in 20 years, lol

People in 100 years will be straight out of the movie "idiocracy" so they won't remember much of anything.

lol

[+Biscuits Brown MVC]

I think he will be remembered for the work done by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation as being responsible for the eradication of Tuberculosis.