美國神話——比爾.蓋茨

American Legend --Bill Gates

Microsoft is not about greed. It's about innovation and fairness.

——Bill Gates

微軟公司不鼓勵貪婪，而重視創新和公平。

——比爾·蓋茨

Bill Gates is an American computer programmer and entrepreneur1 who co-founded Microsoft Corporation， the world's largest personal-computer software company.

Bill strongly believes in hard work. He believes that if you are intelligent and know how to apply your intelligence， you can achieve anything. From childhood Bill was ambitious2， intelligent and competitive. These qualities helped him to attain top position in the profession he chose. In school， he had an excellent record in mathematics and science. Still he was getting very bored in school and his parents knew it， so they always tried to feed him with more information to keep him busy.

Bill's parents came to know their son's intelligence and decided to enroll him in a private school， known for its intense academic environment. It was a very important decision in Bill Gate's life where he was first introduced to a computer. Bill Gates and his friends were very much interested in computer and formed \"Programmers Group\" in late 1968. Being in this group， they found a new way to apply their computer skill in university of Washington. In the next year，they got their first opportunity in Information Sciences Inc. in which they were selected as programmers. ISI (Information Sciences Inc. ) agreed to give them royalties whenever it made money from any of the group's program.

Later， Bill Gates and his close friend Allen started new company of their own， Traf-O-Data. They developed a small computer to measure traffic flow. From this project they earned around $20000. In 1973， he left home for Harvard University. He didn't know what to do， so he enrolled his name for pre-law. He took the standard freshman courses with the exception of signing up for one of Harvard's toughest mathematics courses. He did well over there， but he couldn't find it interesting too. He spent many long nights in front of the school's computer and the next day asleep in class. After leaving school， he almost lost himself from the world of computers. Gates and his friend Paul Allen remained in close contact even though they were away from school. They would often discuss new ideas for future projects and the possibility of starting a business one fine day.

Within a year， Bill Gates dropped out from Harvard. Then he formed Microsoft. Microsoft's vision is \"A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer\". Bill is a visionary3 person and works very hard to achieve his vision. His belief in high intelligence and hard work has put him where he is today. He does not believe in mere luck or God's grace， but just hard work and competitiveness.

Gates's sway over the infant microcomputer industry greatly increased when Microsoft licensed an operating system called MS-DOS to International Business Machines Corporation--then the world's biggest computer supplier and industry pacesetter--for use on its first microcomputer， the IBM PC(personal computer). After the machine's release in 1981， IBM quickly set the technical standard for the PC industry，and MS-DOS likewise pushed out competing operating systems. While Microsoft's independence strained relations with IBM， Gates deftly manipulated the larger company so that it became partly dependent on him for crucial software. Makers of IBM-compatible PCs also turned to Microsoft for their basic software. By the start of the 1990s he had become the PC industry's ultimate kingmaker.

He became a paper billionaire in 1986， and within a decade his net worth had reached into the tens of billions of dollars--making him by some estimates the world's richest private individual. With few interests beyond software and the potential of information technology， Gates at first preferred to stay out of the public eye， handling civic4 and philanthropic5 affairs indirectly through one of his foundations. Nevertheless， as Microsoft's power and reputation grew， and especially as it attracted the attention of the U. S. Justice Department's antitrust division， Gates， with some reluctance， became a more public figure. Rivals (particularly in competing companies in Silicon Valley) portrayed him as driven and determined to profit from virtually every electronic transaction6 in the world. His supporters， on the other hand， celebrated his uncanny business acumen7， his flexibility， and his boundless appetite for finding new ways to make computers and electronics more useful through software.

In addition to his work at Microsoft， Gates was also known for his charitable work. With his wife， Melinda， he launehed the William H. Gates Foundation (renamed the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation in 1999) in 1994 to fund global health programs as well as projects in the Pacific Northwest. During the latter part of the 1990s， the couple also funded North Ameriean libraries through the Gates Learning Foundation and raised money for minority study grants through the Gates Millennium Scholars program. At the beginning of the 21st century， the foundation continued to focus on global health and global development， as well as community and education causes in the United States. After a short transition period， Gates relinquished8 day-to-day oversight of Microsoft in June 2008--although he remained chairman of the board--in order to devote more time to the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates plans to give away 95% of all his earnings when he is old and gray.

比爾·蓋茨，美國電腦編程師和企業家，與人合作建立了世界上最大的個人電腦軟件公司——微軟公司。

比爾堅信付出就有回報。他相信，如果頭腦聰明并知道如何運用這種聰明，就能做成任何事。從童年時期比爾就具有壯志雄心，充滿了智慧與競爭力。這些品質讓他得以在選擇的行業中脫穎而出。學生時代，比爾的數學和科學成績都是優秀。但他覺得課程非常無聊，父母了解到這一點之后，總是用各種信息塞滿他的空閑時間。

比爾的父母漸漸了解到兒子的智慧，于是決定送他去私人學校，因為私人學校以嚴謹的學術氣氛而聞名。這個決定深深影響了比爾的人生，因為他在那里第一次接觸到電腦。比爾和朋友對電腦非常感興趣，在1968年成立了“編程師組合”。在這個組合里，他們找到了一次在華盛頓大學一展電腦技藝的機會。第二年，他們在信息技術公司找到了第一個機會，被選為那里的編程師。信息技術公司同意只要使用組合研發的編程賺了錢就付給他們版稅。

后來，比爾和好友艾倫成立了他們自己的公司——Traf-O-Data。他們開發了一種小型電腦，來測量交通流量。兩人從這個項目中賺了大約2萬美元。1973年，比爾考上了哈佛大學。他不知道要干什么，所以報名攻讀法律預料，所上的課程與標準大一課程無異，但他還輔修了哈佛最難的數學課程。雖然成績很好，但是他還是不感興趣。在學校電腦前度過無數個夜晚，白天就在課上睡覺。放學后比爾幾乎沉浸在電腦世界里。盡管比爾和艾倫離學校很遠，但是他們一直保持聯系。兩人常常一起討論對未來項目的想法，以及將來一起開辦公司的可能性。

大一沒讀完，比爾就從哈佛輟學，成立了微軟公司。公司的目標是實現“每個桌子都放一臺電腦，每個電腦都用微軟軟件”。比爾是一個有夢想的人，他會辛勤工作，讓夢想成真。他相信，正是因為有了高智商和努力的工作，他才有了今天的成就。比爾不相信純粹運氣或上帝恩惠，他只相信辛勤勞作和競爭實力。

微軟許可IBM(當時世界第一大電腦供應商和電腦行業的先行者)在它的第一臺微機IBM個人電腦上使用操作系統MS-DOS時，微軟對幼小的微機行業的控制大大增加了。1981年，該電腦推出市場以后，IBM很快建立了個人電腦行業的技術標準，MS-DOS也推出了與之匹配的操作系統。雖然微軟的獨立性使它與IBM的關系緊張起來，蓋茨靈活地操縱了IBM，讓它永遠依賴于自己的關鍵軟件。IBM兼容機的制造者們也就基本軟件向微軟求助。20世紀90年代初，比爾就已經成為個人電腦行業的最終造王者。

1986年，媒體評他為億萬富翁，十年以內他的身價達到了幾百億——據有關估計成為世界首富。蓋茨對軟件和信息技術潛力以外的東西毫無興趣，起初他更愿意不進入公眾眼球，而是通過一個基金來間接處理市民和慈善事務。然而，隨著微軟力量和名聲的增長，尤其是吸引了美國司法部反壟斷科的注意，盡管心不甘情不愿，比爾成為了一個公眾人物。競爭對手(尤其是硅谷的競爭公司)把比爾描述成受到利益驅使的、決心從世界上每宗交易中都獲得實際利潤的人。而他的支持者卻恰恰相反，贊揚他超人的商業智慧、靈活性和渴望找尋通過軟件更加有效使用電腦和電子的方法。

除了在微軟的工作，蓋茨也因其慈善工作聞名于世。他和妻子梅林達在1994年一起發起建立了威廉姆·H·蓋茨基金(1999年更名為比爾·蓋茨和梅林達·蓋茨基金)，為全球健康項目和太平洋西北項目提供資金。90年代后期，這對夫婦還用蓋茨學習基金贊助為北美圖書館，而且通過蓋茨千禧年學者項目為少數民族學習者募集助學金。21世紀初，這個基金繼續致力于全球健康和發展，并致力于美國的教育和社區事業。經過短暫的過渡期之后，蓋茨在2008年6月放棄了微軟的日常監管——盡管還是董事會主席——目的是投入更多時間來管理比爾·蓋茨和梅林達·蓋茨基金。蓋茨計劃在年老體衰之前把財產的95％用于慈善事業。

注釋

①entrepreneur：n．企業家；主辦人

②ambitious:adj.有抱負的，雄心勃勃的

③visionary:adj.有眼光的，有遠見的

④civic：adj.城市的；公民的

⑤philanthropic:adj.博愛的，慈善的

⑥transaction:n.交易

⑦acumen:n.敏銳，聰明

⑧relinquish:v.交出，放棄