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To: HerbVic who wrote (33562)	6/2/2002 4:40:45 PM
From: Alomex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213177

These accounts, as well as being inconsistent with one another, really don't dispute the book's underlying assertion, that IBM execs were meeting with Bill Gates, initially due to the intervention of Mary Gates on his behalf. Actually, according to Don Estridge, and IBM executive considered the father of the IBM PC, he didn't learn of the connection of Bill and Mary Gates until late September 1980, yet the first discussion from the IBM PC group and Microsoft took place in July 21, 1980. Frankly, Herbvic, the book you quote sounds like sour grapes. 1. Most people who have met Bill Gates in person say he comes across as the most intelligent person they have ever met. Bill Gates and his associates are known for their ability "to drink from the firehose". 2. Bill Gates would not be the first time a parent has tried to help his/her son and gave him a jump start through personal connections. This gave me a foot in the door with IBM. The same foot in the door that he gave to Gary Kildall back when MS still thought of itself as mostly a compiler/interpreter manufacturer. Faced with the same opportunity, Kildall had a golf game to tend to, Gates finagled the deal of the century. 3. Other manufacturers had similarly well positioned fulcrums against which to leverage an empire (see Altair, Apple, Visicalc, Commodore, Lotus, Wordstar, Wordperfect, Borland). They all burned under the weight of their own ill-chosen decisions, while Microsoft powered ahead. According to your book all of that is due to Mary Gates connection with IBM... whatever...