The History of Microsoft

The History of Microsoft

Historians categorize blocks of time with the discovery of certain raw materials

that humans utilized. The Bronze Age and the Iron Age were two periods in human

history that proved through the discovery of artifacts that humans learned to

harness these raw materials ingeniously. The Industrial Revolution of the late

nineteenth century brought the discoveries of the Bronze and Iron Ages to new

heights, and the advent of the locomotive, automobiles, cargo ships and

airplanes were the most evident by-products of such raw materials. Use of these

by-products from the earth's raw materials dramatically changed the world of

business and trade. With the subsequent invention of wire communications (i.e.,

tapping out Morse code and speaking over telephone lines), business and trade

grew exponentially. Wireless communications via the inventions of radio,

television, and motion pictures contributed greatly to the advances of the

Industrial Revolution. The need to find better ways of doing business to keep

the marketplace fresh and innovative has driven the human race toward the brink

of a new era the Information Age. Unlike more tangible qualities of prior ages,

the Information Age offers less defined qualities. At the heart of this new age

is the advent of the personal home computer. Pumping life into this otherwise

material home appliance is software that incorporates the necessary commands to

access information stored within the computer's memory. The company that

offered the world its first software manufacturing company was Microsoft

Corporation (MSFT on the NASDAQ exchange). At the helm of this young, innovative

company are William Gates and Paul Allen, a pair of former high school chums who

envisioned a world of home computer technology years before such a dream became

even remotely possible.

Early Influences

Their story begins at Lakeside High, a private high school in Seattle,

Washington. The Mothers' Club at Lakeside decided to purchase a computer

terminal for the kids with proceeds from bake sales and rummage sales. Students

at Lakeside became enthralled with this new toy. True to their innate curiosity,

Gates and Allen began to dabble farther into the workings of the computer; Gates,

for example, wrote his first computer program at the age of thirteenCa version

of Tic, Tac, Toe. Because the compu...

... middle of paper ...

...ne place to another when the actual information highway will be free of

such limitations. Some people also confuse the information highway with a

massive government project which, Gates feels, A. . . would be a massive mistake

for most countries . . . .@ (6) Just as Microsoft's mission in 1975 was Aa

computer on every desk and in every home,@ (Gates, 14) so it is with Microsoft

progressing towards A. . . >information at your fingertips' which extols a

benefit rather than the network itself.@ (Gates, 6)

Key sucess factors

1) The high degree of expertise and product innovation

2) Being able to stay on the cutting edge of technology

3) Companies need to have a low degree of glitches in there programs

4) A very strong customer support system (user friendly)

5) Must be able to meet the customer needs

The computer industry is a strong leader in technology. To compete you

must stay one step ahead of the rest. Microsoft has proven how devoted they are

to computer program developing by always being one step ahead of the rest. When

one is dealing with the computer industry it is very important to have

kniowledgable employees working for you.